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Recording:
  EP  
 
Artists:
  Schengen with Portal, Innerise, and Weyland  
 
Label:
  MakeMineMusic  
 
Release Date:
  3.February.2003  
 
Reviewed by:
  PostLibyan  
         
 
Rating:
   
         
 
Review:
 

On both the Portal and Yellow6 remix discs, i have been very impressed by the remix work of Innerise. Checking out the Innerise website i was pointed at both the Ti-cal disc and this little release, conveniently enough also on the MakeMineMusic label that is home to both Portal and Yellow6. (The music world is very insular. Go figure.) And, being the geek that i am, i went ahead and ordered this CD from Schengen, who i had not yet really heard. (Well, they did do a remix on that Portal disc, where i was underwhelmed with their work.)

Anyway, the point is that despite the random nature of my first hearing this disc, i am quite pleased with it. It consists of 5 tracks. The first 2 are, to quote the press stuff on the Schengen website, "written and recorded live, together with Portal". So, 2 collaborative tracks. There are also 2 remixes of the Schengen tune Seti, one by Innerise, the other by Weyland, and one brand new Schengen tune. Let's examine each briefly.

Capitol is the lead off track, as well as the first of the 2 collaborations with Portal. This is a nice, lightly glitch tune with groovey bass riffage reminiscent of the most recent Portal album. A nice enough tune.

The second collaboration, B'Leaf, is really good. Portal apparently contribute a sparse piano and some very nice Robin Guthrie-esque guitar meanderings, and Schengen combine this with some spacey keyboard bits and some computerized beats. This is really excellent drone/electro fusion to rival the best moments on Source: Remix or Portal's Remix album. I really like this tune.

The long-awaited Innerise remix of Seti is next on the CD. I have never heard the original of this song, but Innerise has crafted a very nice ambient tune that swells in a slow, logical fashion to head-bopping grooviness. Another fine remix -- when is the Innerise album coming out?

Grace is the next tune, and it is the one brand new all-Schengen song on the disc. It is a pleasant enough piece of wavering electronic drone. Not challenging, but not bad by any stretch.

Finally we wrap things up with Seti on Safari, the remix by Weyland. This is my least favorite track on the disc. Weyland have turned Seti into a very spacey and oddly disorienting tune. (At least, when listening to it on headphones i find myself getting a headache. And this happened more than once. I think it has something to do with the panning effect.) Still, it's not a terrible tune, and it does seem to fit in well with the EP as a whole.

Overall: 5 tunes in about 25 minutes, two of which are really nice, two are pretty good, and one is decent. That adds up to make this another worthwhile purchase.

You know, if the MakeMineMusic label keeps this up, they are going to spoil me! Here's to hoping they do keep it up....

 
         
 
Related Links:
 

Remixes by Portal, which features both Schengen and Innerise.
Coriolis by Ti-cal, with is Innerise by another name.

 
         

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