3 out of 5

Label: One Little Indian

Producer: Alec Empire, Howie B?

So look, bro, I’m only listening to this because I’m going through Alec Empire’s solo stuff, and he’s remixed a track here, with the B-side belonging to Howie B.  I’m not a big Björk fan, so I don’t know no nothin’ nothins about the original track, but I suspect the Howie B. mix contains enough elements of the original that I get the gist.

Which makes the Empire version of it bad ass.  It is – as usual for what I’ve been listening to – overlong, giving the whole thing a go at least one repetition too many – but otherwise, Alec settles for one particular lyric and one odd noise from (I believe) the original track – the noise which he’s manipulated into a shrill whine, like an electronic animal crying – and then alternates between moments of Björky quiet, lilting her one lyric, then pummeling BPM.  Which is what Empire does, yes?  But it’s the fuck-off start-stop of this that really sells it, and when the “drums” kick in, it sounds like the track is breaking in half.  It’s awesome.  Which is probably why he does it a couple times too many.

…This makes the Howie B. B-side seem sorta lame in comparison, though I don’t know what the artist’s regular style is.  Here he does more typical remix fare, allowing more of the original song to show through and adding some loops and beats.  It’s more than just a dance remix (it seems like the original song is too ethereal for all that), but it’s just too empty for my tastes.  That being said, there’s nothing wrong with it, it just does nothing to interest me in either Howie or Björk’s catalogue.

So A-side would be 4 stars, B-side 2 or 3, depending on how silly I’m being.  Thus a 3 overall.