3 out of 5

Label: Skin Graft

Produced by: Tatsuya Yoshida (remix by)

A 2007 remix / remaster of the 1997 original, adding in some more tracks from the studio session and an extra cut from the live-recorded tracks.

While the mix of the album tracks is notably different, I’d argue it’s just exactly that: different: the lo-fi vibe has been dusted away slightly, and the levels have been brought up (maybe too much…), but this is still Refusal Fossil, better or worse. So my original review absolutely still applies.

To add some more specifics particular to this release, there’s more bang for buck just in terms of tracks, though why these were originally left off is anyone’s guess – limitations of older CDs? Otherwise, I could stretch my ears to say that the new tunes are a tad more linear than the others  – a bit more directly poppy – but really, don’t quote me on that.

With the remix cleaning off a bit of the original’s fuzz, I’d take a bit to argue that that gruffness was always part of the collection’s charm, though I might admittedly be inured to what I heard first. Regardless, the remaster is a bit devilish in its approach, amping up the levels such that I have to turn the volume down from my normal ranges in order to listen comfortably. (I’m obviously older than I was when hearing the prior version, so I might have older ears as well, but the general loudness of both mixes / masters feels equal – it’s that the new mix doesn’t feel balanced in terms of range to allow these old-er ears a break.)

Pluses; minuses; net equal. Truly completists only need own both.