TAKE ME OUT (REMIXES)

Franz Ferdinand

Sometimes it's great being a music reviewer, it means you keep an eye out for any surprises that suddenly appear on the shelves of your local half-decent record shop. Not long ago, there was the brown-trouser-inducing remix of Snow Patrol's Run, didn't expect that and certainly didn't expect it to be as good as it was. See, it happens. That's partly why I picked this up a couple of days ago, that and the fact that the original song is class on a stick anyway. Mind you, the sticker on the front helped - Daft Punk Remix it screamed at me. Well, it just had to be good, didn't it? When Daft Punk are good, they're very very good as Around The World proves, but unfortunately, when they're off-form, they're... well... they're boring, as it happens - see most of their Discovery album for details. So I put this on hoping that Daft Punk had done a sterling job of recreating the song and... well, they've recreated it, but unfortunately the end result sounds almost identical to the original. Add a few electronic squelchy noises (including one that builds up throughout the first verse proper for no apparent reason), a handful of record player noises to give it a retro feel and that pretty much is that. Rubbish. Considering Daft Punk's reputation, I expected better. If you're going to remix a song, at least make it look like you spent more than an hour on it. That's not all, though. On the other side (yup, it's one of those pesky twelve-inch only releases) you get the original version which does a good job of showing up the A-side, but you also get another remix. This one's by somebody called Naum Gabo - nope, new to me too. However, this is much more like it. Much more electronic, much more dancey and the only vocals used are the lines sung during the first 45 seconds, you know, the bit before the song decides to turn into another song altogether - not that that matters here as the song's given yet another arrangement to play with. It works amazingly well and this mix alone justified me shelling out some of my hard-earned cash for this record. If nothing else, this release proves that sometimes, the big guns don't deliver and it's left to the poor unknown hidden away on Side 2 to rescue things.

SOME GIRLS

Rachel Stevens

Something's very wrong here. Sweet Dreams My L.A. Ex was unfinished and uninspired, Funky Dory was just plain naff, but this is actually quite good. By the sound of things, somebody's been listening to Goldfrapp. It's probably never seen a real musical instrument in its life, it's dark (and frankly, a little bit dirty too) and the lyrics tell a story about the quest for fame and fortune - and there was me thinking intelligent lyrics were almost unwelcome in pop songs these days. Not only that, but the song fades away at the end while the singing carries on - it's not big or clever but it seems like a pretty good way for this song to check out with. One more thing, there is no way in Hell any S Club variety would've recorded this song. Perhaps Rachel Stevens does have a solo career in her after all, mind you I've been wrong before (the sentence "The law of averages says that Mariah Carey has to release a decent single eventually" rings a bell).

SICK AND TIRED

Anastacia

Just how the hell do you follow up a song that's not just taken up permanent residence in the Top 20, but has been there so long it's built houses and hotels on the placings and is now in a position to charge new entries rent? It's not easy, I'll tell you that. Look at Outkast and Katie Melua from earlier this year. Hey Ya couldn't be budged for months on end, it entered the chart at number six, fell to 22, then went all the way back up to number three - this sort of thing just doesn't happen on The World's Fastest Chart TM. Then there was the follow-up, The Way You Move. Still went top ten, but tumbled out pretty quickly. That's not encouraging for Anastacia's new one. Then there's Katie Melua. The Closest Thing To Crazy went up and down more times than Leicester City, but the follow-up (Call Off The Search) was in the chart for less time than it takes to say the title. Oh dear. All the signs are that this single will be dead and buried in a couple of weeks then, which is a bit of a shame really. While this song's by no means a masterpiece, I have to say I much prefer this Anastacia to the one that turfed out fluffy poppy tat like I'm Outta Love. You've got a proper band, some pretty miffed sounding lyrics, a singer who's not trying to hit every note possible while singing the word "I" (something she was extraordinarily guilty of doing during songs like... well, take a wild guess), basically, she's reined herself in a bit now we all know how good a singer she is. It's got an edge to it, but it doesn't quite make me want to rush out and buy it. Even so, it'll stand out from the rest of the Top 40 for the brief time it's there.