The One Am Radio "On the Shore of the Wide World" (Level Plane)
By Peter A. Holden
Thursday. Apr 14, 11:36 AM
A rare breed of good remix albums!

Remix albums: arguably one of the most offensive and obnoxious things for a band or artist to do. For two reasons:

One: remix albums often come out when anxious fans are awaiting something real in the way of new material, herego: fucking frustrating. A proverbial slap in the face to fans as remix albums never live up to expectations and often annoy the hell out of people (read: me).

Two: remix albums are often cheap excuses for someone to make money off of a band by proclaiming to remix their songs as if they are artistically doing something all their own. Anyone can program beats that pan back and forth or a bunch of bloops and bleeps. The meat of the matter comes from a real artist. I have a shining example of this phenomenon: a Faith No More EP I own called A Small Victory has on it four remix versions of album tracks from Angel Dust. All the remixes are dumb. Just dumb. There is nothing inventive or interesting about them and they often kill the best parts of the songs by repeating the hook far too many times.

So why am I ranting about this so much when I am supposed to be reviewing The One AM Radio’s On the Shore of the Wide World? Well, because this remix EP defies all that crap I just bitched about. It takes a collection of remixed versions of what I consider soon-to-be-classic bedroom electronica tracks from his first full-length, A Name Writ in Water, and elaborates on their strengths instead of simply cashing in on them. None of that “repeat the main musical phrase till it’s dead” style of most remixes. All the quality and consistency is retained. Fresh new perspectives on amazing tracks like “What You Gave Away” made me think I was hearing almost a completely new song by Mr. Hrishikesh. This disc was not created so that the label could make more money without including the artist in the process. In fact, Hirway Hrishikesh remixes tracks himself. The flagship of this album is the fun yet darkly twinged “I Didn’t Speak the Language” that sees itself get a much more caustic face and dance sensibility. Quite tasteful and rockin’.

The only crime it does commit from my self-defined list of remix faults is that it is not new material. BUT, no one was expecting a new album any time soon anyway (unlike The Faint’s remix album of Danse Macabre, which came out in 2003 when I was already awaiting Wet From Birth… which never made an appearance until over a year later, I might add). I don’t like having my appetite wetted: I like to get what I came for. Remixes always disappoint the expectant listener. This EP not only arrived when I wasn’t expecting anything in the first place, it definitely satisfied my tastebuds. So, it gets an A in all respects. Not a big fat F like most of its breathren.
www.theoneamradio.com
www.level-plane.com

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Peter A. Holden

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