Prop’s Cook Cut Damage Destroy (Remix Album)

Written for Vibewire

If you’re a fan of electronic explorations of moods, rhythms and textures you are most likely to already know that Prop‘s Cook Cut Damage Destroy is one of this year’s must buys and have it planted firmly in your CD rack – thus making this review obsolete. However, if you’re not but wouldn’t mind joining all the nerdy geeks behind little black boxes switching dials and listening to bleeps and creaks, buying this album will take you one step in the right direction.

Earlier this year the Sydney five piece came out with their debut album ‘Small Craft Rough Sea’, and as if this wasn’t exquisite enough they decided to give us another jolt of Prop goodness with a remix album of their songs mashed with a whole long of other songs from other electronic artists, delivering a puree of extraordinary sonic sounds. Earlier B(if)tek did a similar thing with their album ‘Frequencies Will Move You’ and the remixed CD was always my favourite. It’s not to say that their own work can’t stand alone, its simply that the songs from other artists often brings an accessibility to their intricate style, and in turn their fusion of marimbas and vibraphones brings a depth and dimension to the artists who remix.

Of course, there’s the whole possibility of the entire thing falling into shambles when you have artists as varied as Telemetry Orchestra, Pnau and Oren Ambrachi messing around with your work, but instead the whole thing pulls together with each remix managing to keep the Prop essence and thus letting that become the spine which we must follow as we traverse through the fourteen tracks.

The album opens with a remix of ‘Sirius’ by Someone which gives a nod to Prop’s original album as you can actually hear seagulls and the creaking of a boat out at sea. It’s sunny and warm and relaxing to the final rumbling glitches. From here Stereolab carry the summery feel but quickly take us somewhere more wistful and nostalgic. In Mako’s remix of ‘Landing’ we go a bit deeper and picks up the pace with a strong bass lined with a patchwork of sonic glitches and unidentifiable noises. Despite the fact that all the artists featured worked individually, in the compilation we manage to still find a strong sense of cohesive progression.

Track seven, in which The Presets remix Portal was an interesting idea. After all, the Presets’ Julian Hamilton and Kim Moyes are from Prop too, so it’s kind of like asking New Order to do a cover of Joy Divison (and apparently there’s one on the 24 Hour Party People soundtrack). It’s almost chilling if it wasn’t for the danceable beat, and definitely darker than the Telemetry Orchestra’s version which has Charlotte’s gentle voice give it a whimsical, childlike feel. Paul Mac and Dirty’s Cub take on the song plants it squarely in the dance genre – three very different manipulations.

The consistently impressive Decoder Ring brings a whole lot of growling bass to ‘Pilot Error’, accumulating and crescendoing into a song brimming with darkness and light. It’s an excellent example of how to find another face to a song without moving too far from its original intent. Mice Parade’s ‘Remora’ remix is another and closes this accomplished album with a resounding finish.