One may think it timely, given the return of '80s chic and synthesiser sounds colliding with the rise of the mash-up and DJ heroes that an album of '80s 'classics' be compiled and re-mixed by the likes of Tiga, Richard X and The Crystal Method. Sounds very cool, no? Unfortunately, on this compilation, many of the songs from the fringe of the era have just had a 4/4 back-beat added in the same way some of the hits of the era have had for commercial and Top 40 club releases (witness the horror of Summer Of '69). This results in a blight on midfield favourites such as Johnny (Fine Young Cannibals), Street Cafˇ (Icehouse) and most criminally, Owner Of A Lonely Heart (Yes). This song is virtually made for a ramped up refrain to be twisted and repeated, beats dropped out and pumped back in again and again, the vocal warped and woven by a light sabre conducting the space-age electronic trickery until you can't stand it anymore. Instead, Max Graham flattens the whole thing out into a lame indie pop song.
The second half of 'Future Retro' is better. It contains Devo's Girl U Want beefed up by Black Light Odyssey in a respectable, anthropologist's way of not disturbing the piece too much, just reinforcing it for modern times. Nowhere Girl (B-Movie) is a song I never heard back in the day, nor since, but now I want to thank Adam Freeland. His remix, stretches the melody out until it is a thin, fragile line, the tune a mere effected echo pulled back gloriously into the vocoded chorus. Now, if ever there was an '80s-inspired, '90s-realised electronic effect the vocoder is it. Perhaps I was just looking for the 12-inch kind of remix, an '80s innovation which survived the '90s in nightclubs.
As producer Craig Degraff suggested, I did go back and listened to my 12-inch version of Bizarre Love Triangle, and not only could the Crystal Method's remix not replace the original, their bland standard dance-rock drumming is not a patch on it - way too boring. In this age of pastiche culture there is really no excuse for bland reinterpretations, the competitions is just too great. The parting shot of The Sparks' remix of Morrissey's Suedehead really is a schizophrenic rollercoaster ride - and if you think that is mixing metaphors just listen to the song!
Narelle Walker
One may think it timely, given the return of '80s chic and synthesiser sounds colliding with the rise of the mash-up and DJ heroes that an album of '80s 'classics' be compiled and re-mixed by the likes of Tiga, Richard X and The Crystal Method. Sounds very cool, no? Unfortunately, on this compilation, many of the songs from the fringe of the era have just had a 4/4 back-beat added in the same way some of the hits of the era have had for commercial and Top 40 club releases (witness the horror of Summer Of '69). This results in a blight on midfield favourites such as Johnny (Fine Young Cannibals), Street Cafˇ (Icehouse) and most criminally, Owner Of A Lonely Heart (Yes). This song is virtually made for a ramped up refrain to be twisted and repeated, beats dropped out and pumped back in again and again, the vocal warped and woven by a light sabre conducting the space-age electronic trickery until you can't stand it anymore. Instead, Max Graham flattens the whole thing out into a lame indie pop song. 
