Remixes Of The Spheres

Like all three of Ian Brown's solo albums, Remixes of the Spheres, from 2001's Music of the Spheres, would be a work of genius were it not for the all the niggling imperfections. In among the genuine remixes, the scraped together fillers--former Japan-only track "Superstar", the live version of "El Mundo Pequeno"--are easy to spot. And it's impossible not to question the wisdom of including three instrumentals, when Brown's trump card is always his deadpan, pseudo-spiritual ramblings. Yet, as is Brown's way, when it's good, it's exceptional. In the hands of Nightmares on Wax, "The Gravy Train"--Brown's sulky dismissal of the vacuous lifestyles of the rich and famous--slopes to a seedy slouch that heightens his disdain. Cedar Blue's clicks, bleeps and backwards loop elevate "Forever and a Day" to a zero gravity lullaby that Air would be proud of and under Freelance Hell Raiser the sketchy "Northern Lights" becomes a fully formed ode to love with a sci-fi punk twist. Ultimately though, it's the standout from Music of the Spheres, "F.E.A.R", that's the main prize. Outstripping anything else James Lavelle's U.N.K.L.E have done in recent memory, this recasting of the acronym mantra as a Clubbed-to-Death-style epic of driving beats and majestically melancholic strings is second only to the original. And that was indeed an unequivocal work of genius. --Dan Gennoe