BETA

Bloc Party

Intimacy Remixed

miiarcus' Score
25
Unpleasant
released: May 11th, 2009
recorded: 2008-2009
label: Wichita, Hostess
format: Remix LP
genres: Indietronica, New Rave, Remix
EDM, Electro-Disco, Electro-House, Alternative Dance, Breakbeat, Electroclash

track list

  1. Ares (Villains Remix) 75
  2. Mercury (Hervé Disarray Remix) 45
  3. Halo (We Have Band Dub) 30
  4. Biko (Mogwai Remix) 20
  5. Trojan Horse (John B Remix) 75
  6. Signs (Armand Helden Remix) 10
  7. One Month Off (FD Remix) 15
  8. Zephyrus (Phase One Remix) 25
  9. Talons (Phones R.I.P Mix) 20
  10. B.T.H (No Age Remix) 60
  11. Ion Square (BoF Remix) 60
  12. Letter to My Son (GP Remix) 55
  13. Y.V.A.G.S (Optothetic Remix) 40
total duration: 1 hour, 4 minutes

summary


""Intimacy Remixed" goes down as the worst thing the band has released."

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miiarcus' review

I've always been intrigued by the idea of remix albums, It's always exciting hearing my favorite albums re-imagined by various remixers. Not sure what went wrong in the process, but these remixers completely butchered up most of the tracks on here. There were moments where I couldn't help but cry from how badly they fucked these songs up. These songs lose most if not all of their original charm and character, which is really unfortunate considering how their last remix album, "Silent Alarm Remixed", was proof that they had succeeded (for the most part) at reaching out to some good artists to remix their songs for an album. Instead, they seemed to prove themselves as being a one trick pony at remix albums.

Phones (Paul Epworth) is a long time friend of the band, he even made great remixes their material that goes all the way back to their debut EP back in 2004. Paul completely lost it here; the Talons remix is just laughably bad. There's nothing redeeming from this remix that makes it worth listening to. That 'Signs' remix reminds me of that 'Welcome To The Black Parade' remix Steve Aoki did a few years back. Armand Van Helden did it first, he turned a ballad with thought-provoking and deeply personal lyrics into some generic, forgettable club tune. Come on now. This man was considered one of the best remixers of all time.

The only redeeming qualities on this album are the remixes of 'Ares', 'Trojan Horse', and maybe 'Ion Square' which are really good remixes. 'Ares' is a really hard hitting track, and a great re-imagination of the song. John B did a really great job with the 'Trojan Horse' remix, it gives the track loads of energy that surpasses the energy from the original. The 'Ion Square' remix feels like it's trying to be the M83 remix 'The Pioneers', they both have an atmospheric vibe to them and their structures are similar; I can't say which one I like more.

If only the entire album was on the same level as the 'Ares' or 'Trojan Horse' remixes, we could've had something good on our hands. If "Intimacy" is the best of the band's output, then "Intimacy Remixed" goes down as the worst thing the band has released.