The first volume of Serie Noire on Belgium's Eskimo Recordings was subtitled Dark Pop and New Beat.That mix was one of my favorites, with an impressive clarity of visionthat imagined a postmodern combination of great, forgotten 80's newwave (Vicious Pink and Executive Slacks), post-punk disco (Section 25),hilariously unexpected selections from seemingly off-topic artists (TheAlan Parsons Project and John Carpenter) and newer material thatslotted in perfectly (Metro Area). Serie Noire 2 is a sequel inname only, sharing none of the impeccable taste in track selection andseamless mixing that characterized the first mix. The tracks on Serie Noire 2are mostly uninspired, many of them wearing out their welcome after aminute or two, suggesting that The Glimmer Twins need to become morecomfortable with The Fader Button. Many of the tracks chosen for Serie Noire 2are of questionable worthiness, which tends to happen if you've beencrate-digging a little too long: eventually, you reach the bottom ofthe crate. Boytronic's "Bryllyant" opens the set, a mildly divertinggloomy electro track straight out of Miami Vice. It's the soundtrack toCrockett and Tubbs coked up, exploring each other's bodies. This seguesinto a couple of best-forgotten 80's acts - Savage Process andBlancmage - the former a crappy industrial-pop group trying to soundsexy, the latter a hopelessly cheesy new romantic band. Die Warzau is apoor man's Nitzer Ebb, and Nitzer Ebb were already a poor man's SkinnyPuppy, so their track "Strike To The Body" is about as awful as itgets. Congratulations to The Glimmer Twins for being the millionthrecent dance mix to include Liaisons Dangereuses' "Peut etre...Pas."Liaisons' self-titled LP was released in 1981, but its recent reissuehas made it far more popular now than it ever was in its own day.Giorgio Moroder's "Evolution" is one of the more boring rock-discotracks I've heard from the usually talented producer. Sandy Steel'scover of Delta V's "Mind Your Own Business" has some of the samefeminist energy as the original, but I still prefer the Chicks on Speedversion. P.I.L.'s "Death Disco" is one of the rawest punk-funk tracksfrom back in the day, but the "Megga Mix" included here renders it allbut unrecognizable. Some rather pathetic German new-wave bands end themix; nothing remarkable. Deejay Gigolos' recent New Deutschcompilation was uneven, but for my money, it was much more successfulat unearthing obscure German funk and industrial than these guys.Recent personal-choice compilations and mixes such as Ladytron's Softcore Jukebox and Felix Da Housecat's Bugged In have done a much better job of remaining interesting for their entire length. Serie Noire 2 is a waste of my time.- Savage Process - My Heart Begins to Beat
- Giorgio Moroder - Evolution
- Sandy Steel - Mind Your Own Business
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