The Cure - Mixed Up

This album of remixes is a good listen, as it forms a kind of Cure greatest hits compilation with a twist. It's worth getting for its only new song, "Never Enough", a dense wah-wah fuelled grind that fit in well among the Madchester ravings of 1990. Otherwise, there's a concentration on material from their preceding two albums, especially the "Disintegration". Many of these are labelled "extended mixes", and don't muck around too much with the basic songs. This approach works best on the intense "Fascination Street", but "Lullaby" goes on a bit.

It's also worth getting for the reinterpretations of some of the Cure's older work. The prettiest of these is the tender remix of "Close to Me", backed with a gentle bubbling beat and decorated with a jazzy whirl of horns. "The Caterpillar" was another pretty tune to dig up for this collection. Another particularly inspired choice, dug up from the mists of time, is "A Forest", which works well in a dark, hypnotic dance idiom. Unlike "In Between Days", whose remix is standard turn of the 90's rave fare, ordinary stuff and not worthy of the song.

October 24, 2004

7 out of 10

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