New Order - Acid House Mixes By 808 State

(Original review taken from http://www.brainwashed.com/brain/brainv07i38.html)

"808 State, "new order acid house mixes"

Rephlex

Don't be fooled by the appearance of New Order nor the word "mixes" in the title of this record. These are essentially two reinterpretations of two of New Order's most important songs "Confusion" and "Blue Monday" by fellow Mancunians 808 State. What could easily be correct on the cover, however, is that these date back to 1988, a time in which 808 State was synching their Roland 808, 909 and 303 together, letting the machines take centre stage. As far as my ears can tell, there are absolutely no sounds from New Order's recording used in the process, and that's probably a good thing, as the songs have been remixed and remixed and remixed and remixed to the point of violent nausea. 808 State's versions to me sound like cover tunes, where Graham Massey and company are practicing with equipment or approaches that were new to them after years of playing rock music as Biting Tongues. There's a couple possible reasons these didn't surface on a wide scale level sixteen years ago: the group might not have been confident enough with the recordings at the time; New Order's international stardom could have demanded much more money than 808 State could afford; the vocals might not have been quite what the 12" acid house market demanded (that "yeah" sample in "Blue Monday" and the "Confusion" sample both grate on the nerves after a few minutes); or there was already a saturated market of New Order remixes kicking around. Now, sixteen years later, the songs are certainly more "vintage" (or as LCD Soundsytem would put it "borrowed nostalgia for the unremembered 80s"). Both versions are pure and blissful, with a bare minimal amount of vocals included. They bear little resemblance to the original versions, aside from recognizable bass lines, and act as a strong precursor to the next vault release of 808 State on Rephlex, Prebuild, (a collection of the songs which pre-date Newbuild). For people expecting the wailing sax and melodic mastery from albums like Ninety and Ex:el, this 12" will probably be a disappointment, but for those looking for hypnotic acid house techno and don't mind New Order will probably find a mild amount of joy within the grooves.

Jon Whitney