Don't be fooled by the appearance of New Order nor the word "mixes" inthe title of this record. These are essentially two reinterpretationsof two of New Order's most important songs "Confusion" and "BlueMonday" by fellow Mancunians 808 State. What could easily be correct onthe cover, however, is that these date back to 1988, a time in which808 State was synching their Roland 808, 909 and 303 together, lettingthe machines take center stage. As far as my ears can tell, there areabsolutely no sounds from New Order's recording used in the process,and that's probably a good thing, as the songs have been remixed andremixed and remixed and remixed to the point of violent nausea. 808State's versions to me sound like cover tunes, where Graham Massey andcompany are practicing with equipment or approaches that were new tothem after years of playing rock music as Biting Tongues. There's acouple possible reasons these didn't surface on a widescale levelsixteen years ago: the group might not have been confident enough withthe recordings at the time; New Order's international stardom couldhave demanded much more money than 808 State could afford; the vocalsmight not have been quite what the 12" acid house market demanded (that"yeah" sample in "Blue Monday" and the "Confusion" sample both grate onthe nerves after a few minutes); or there was already a saturatedmarket of New Order remixes kicking around. Now, sixteen years later,the songs are certainly more "vintage" (or as LCD Soundsytem would putit "borrowed nostalgia for the unremembered 80s"). Both versions arepure and blissful, with a bare minimal amount of vocals included. Theybear little resemblance to the original versions, aside fromrecognizable bass lines, and act as a strong precursor to the nextvault 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 forhynotic acid house techno and don't mind New Order will probably find amild amount of joy within the grooves.Read More
