Lusine – “Podgelism ” – [Ghostly International]

Jeff McIlwane, or, as the cool kids call him, Lusine, seems to have released more remixes than songs. Most notably, “Flat”, for which we now have two copies of the four remixes, included here and on the “Flat Remixes” vinyl EP, does not appear on any currently available Lusine release. I find that the inclusion of four remixes of one song weakens the CD considerably, giving the inherently repetitiousness nature of beat remixes (and it’s unquestionably all about the beats here) a pall of opression by hammering you with the same beat over and over (the quirky departure of (*GASP*) vocals in the Dear remix are more than offset by the Cepia mix, in which he spends a minute building up, lays down the beat track, and walks away, returning four minutes later to pot down), a beat that, while masterfully crafted like all the beats here, isn’t strong enough relative to the others to merit so much attention.

Of course, since this is a beat remix album, why would you possibly play it end to end? (My excuse: music reviewing!) Slap the disc on the platter, audition tracks until your hips make it skip, back it up and lay it down!