New Order - Acid House Mixes By 808 State

Acid House mixes by 808 State
Rephlex
**
An esteemed colleague saw fit to give this the 5/5 treatment last issue. But I can't let that pass without comment, what with New Order, 808 State and Acid House being three of the few subjects in the world in which I'd consider myself better informed than most. Sure, it's easy to get carried away - you see three legendary names of electronic music plus the magical 1988 digits on the sleeve, acid is going through one of its cyclical revivals, and your mind's made up before you've listened - it just has to be great. Not so. Like any form of music that exploded very quickly, most acid house was total cod made by people who had no idea what they were doing. That isn't quite the case here, but it is the case that 'Blue Monday' and `Confusion' are both inestimably better in their original incarnations, that 8o8 State's most glorious moments lie elsewhere (mainly in 'Pacific State') and that there are far better examples of acid house to be found. If you want to hear the real deal, check out the works of Phuture and Armando. (Pc)