From: awrc@dcs.ed.ac.uk (Al Crawford)
Newsgroups: rec.music.industrial
Subject: Re: Severed Heads Twister EP
Date: 21 Aug 92 08:33:44 GMT
Reply-To: awrc@dcs.ed.ac.uk (Al Crawford)
Organization: The University Of Edinburgh - Department Of Computer Science

In article <1992Aug20.180342.3470@cbnewsd.cb.att.com> barth@cbnewsd.cb.att.com (barth.richards) writes:
>
> What's the Retread CD?  Perhaps you could post a summary and/or review?  I
> would also like to hear more about the Twister EP.

Well, I *should* have a copy of _Twister_ to review within a couple of
weeks (my usual source down-under's normal shop is sold out and they won't
have new stock in until Tuesday) but here, in the meantime, is a repost of
the _Retread_ review I posted some time back...

----

Severed Heads - Retread				Volition VOLTCD 32 [Aus]

9 Tracks, Total Running Time 63 min 52 sec

1. Big Car (Remix Vocal Edit)		4:18
2. Big Car (Retread)			5:56
3. Greater Dub				7:12
4. All Saints Day (Extended Mix)	6:47
5. Big Car (Crash Mix)			7:44
6. Saint Dub Day			8:04
7. Greater Reward Remix (Wicked Mix)	8:24
8. Jetlag Remix (Concrete Mix)		5:15
9. Reward Remix Dub			10:02

Produced by Robert Racic & Tom Ellard. Remix, additional productions &
edits by Robert Racic for dB Productions except 8 remixed by 400
Blows/Andrew B. Remastered by Robert Racic and Stephen Smart at Sony Music
& dB Productions, Sydney April 1991.

Comments: This album gathers together most of the various dance remixes by
"Rotund For Success"-era Severed Heads in one place.  Everything on this
album (with the exception of `Big Car (Retread)') has been out before on
12"/CD singles but it's nice to be able to pick them all up in one fell
swoop especially when you consider that SH CD singles don't exactly grow on
trees around here (here being central Scotland in my case). This appears
(comparing contents) to be the same as the title listed in the last Sevcom
Booklet as "Remixed For Success". I can only guess that they've changed the
title to prevent confusion with "Rotund". Also, since "Remixed For Success"
was never listed as a future US release I don't know if this disc will be
liable to turn up anywhere outside of Australia [actually, it's available
in Europe too]. I've got a friend down under to thank for getting hold of
my copy (Ta Graeme!)

There's not really a lot you can say about the tracks though - they are all
fairly standard Robert Racic remixes. There's small structural differences
from the originals but no drastic reworkings. The only exception to this
rule is the `Jetlag (Concrete Mix)', remixed by 400 Blows. Ellard has
described this as "anorexic" compared to the "flabby" original and that
about sums this track up in a nutshell - it's considerably sparser than the
original from "Bad Mood Guy" and I have to say that while I didn't much
like the original version, this is a big improvement.

So what's the music like? Slightly offbeat highly danceable
synths'n'samples stuff.  This probably isn't the best introduction to
Severed Heads recent output though - three remixes each of `Big Car' and
`Greater Reward' could be a little offputting. If you're unfamiliar with
their work "Bulkhead" provides a better, more even coverage of their later,
dance-oriented material. Verdict - only for the serious collector.

--
			Al Crawford - awrc@dcs.ed.ac.uk
	  Department Of Computer Science, The University of Edinburgh
   Rm 1410, JCMB, Kings Buildings, Mayfield Rd, EDINBURGH, EH9 3JZ, Scotland
	     Tel: +44 (0) 31 650 5165  Fax: +44 (0) 31 667 7209
Newsgroups: rec.music.industrial