Rachel's / Matmos - Full On Night
(Quarterstick)

Rachel's "Recension mix" reworks their original by adding portions of improvised performances recorded on tour. The most obvious use of this is the new ending to the song. In the original version, the song ends with the sound of a train chugging away. In the new version, the train is left out in favor of a simple but aggressive rock guitar part. Overall, the new mix of the song makes it sound fractured and much more avant, more similar to Gastr del Sol than Rachel's. Portions of sustained melody in the original are often interrupted in the remix by either silence or sparse, single instrument arrangements, heightening the mood of the piece and making for a more interesting listen.

When listening to Matmos' remix, "The Precise Temperature of Darkness," I feel like a judge on the cult tv show Iron Chef reviewing a dish from an overzealous challenger. This is a scallop dish that has asparagus in it; this is not an asparagus dish. The theme ingredient here should be Rachel's; about all we get during the first 16 minutes of this 18 minute track is a distorted, elastic, ping-ponging cello note amongst a sea of click tracks and noise. Occasionally, a bass part or portions of a train sound (from the original ending to the song) will float around in the background, but really there is not much Rachel's in this dish. At the end of the remix, Matmos makes use of the guitar ending of the Rachel's version as filtered through a bomb shelter during a raid. Finally, there are artifacts recognizable as being something of Rachel's. A combination of Rachel's lush strings and Matmos' noise and debris could have made for an excellent remix, but Matmos simply gives us the noise and debris, almost completely skimping on the theme ingredient.

jim steed 2000 may 26