Leave it Unspoken

Slowly but surely, I am starting to get over my irrational fear for remix albums. Perhaps it’s that remix album phase that a lot of indie bands went through around 2007 that scarred me (Yes Bloc Party, I am looking at you), or maybe it’s a slight anxiousness somewhere that my favourite albums are about to be tainted by a set of awful remixes. But things are turning around slowly in my mind as the last few remix albums that have crossed my path have been more than enjoyable and are healing those unnecessary wounds from the past.

I have a handful of albums that I can listen to anyplace and anytime, and Exile’s Radio is definitely one of them. It can calm me down and bring me back to safe and familiar feelings, something that certain hip-hop instrumentals can always do in times of need. When I first heard that it was getting a remix collection album in the form of AM/FM, my familiar feeling of anxiousness came back to haunt me and even Radio itself couldn’t calm those feelings down.

Weeks later, here I am, a whole seven listens to the album later and still in its reign. AM/FM has an amazing cohesion to it that wouldn’t usually make sense on a remix album, but works perfectly here. It’s hard to even recommend certain standouts here, but relative highlights are the two Population Control remixes done by Samiyam and Free The Robots. Samiyam has always been stuck in my mind as grossly talented and his last 12” on Hyperdub was nothing short of brilliant. Free The Robots were unfamiliar to my ears and so far it sounds like that was a mistake on my part. More gems are the ethereal P.U.D.G.E. remix of So We Can Move and the soothing vocally enriched version of Stay Tuned entitled Stay Here, with vocals provided by Muhsinah. By the by, there are fifteen remixes that didn’t make the cut but are up for download for free here. All in all, I have been gloriously taken aback by this remix album and I think it’s safe to say that my irrational fear for remix albums has been eradicated by AM/FM. If this one won’t do it, nothing will.