Beck is well known for confounding people, but his 2005 album Guero had fans divided like never before. While some saw it is a triumphant return to the party track days of Odelay, some hardcore fans saw it as Beck doing something he had never done before; retreading his steps. It probably wasn’t an album which was screaming out for the remix treatment, so there are some questionable motivations behind the release of the new album Guerolito, a track-by-track remix of Guero. As with any remix album, it has its share of hits and misses, by luckily the hits far outweight the misses, making this a fine album for Beck fans to own, although non-fans probably won’t find much to savour.
E-pro, the opening song from Guero, was a hard-rocking, balls-out party anthem, and Homelife have remixed it into Ghost Range. All the electric guitars are gone, as has some of the tempo. Taking the place of the pounding riffs are squeaks and beeps, as well as some bluegrass style guitar and banjo work. When the electric guitars do finally arrive for the chorus melody, they’re still practically unrecognisable. This track is an excellent example of a remixer completely reimagining a track to give it layers it might not have had before.
Islands do a remix of Que Onda Guerro, turning horns into organ beats, and taking a Latin street song into an beachy island party song. You can almost hear the steel drum in the background. Meanwhile Octet take Girl, the summer party song of the album, and turn it upside down. It begins with low key piano melodies and takes off with a snare drum backing beat. The lyrics and vocals stay the same of course, but never have lyrics about summer and girls sounded so disturbing.
Frequent Beck collaborators Air take Missing, a fairly run-of-the-mill Beck song and give it the once over to create Heaven Hammer. Air do their usual thing, emphasising certain elements, and completely removing others to give the song an even greater sense of melancholy and longing. This track has been getting some JJJ airplay, and is probably the best song on the album.
So an album which opens with four excellent remixes couldn’t step wrong from here, could it? Well, not quite. The Beastie Boys’ Adrock has a go at Black Tambourine, one of the best songs on Guero, and turns it into a bit of a vanity exercise, adding some macho big beats and some samples, but not essentially having much effect on the song itself.
Meanwhile, Mario C turns Earthquake Weather into Terremoto Tempo, and 8-Bit turns Hell Yes into Ghettochip Malfunction. These two remixes are both interesting, but don’t bring much new to the original, as Mario C slows down his version, while 8-Bit turn an understated party song into a straightforward one.
And so it goes on. Boards Of Canada have a minimal effect on Broken Drum, El-P turns Scarecrow from an almost countrified line dancing number into a dancehall favourite. Diplo, Subtle and John King all get their shot to make something from Geuro’s songs, but none of them stand out.
Finally, Th’ Corn Gangg turn Geuro’s gospel number Emergency Exit into a solid dance number, with sped up vocals, and a strong backing beat. The Dust Brothers round out the album with Clap Hands, a standard Dust Brothers number, although scratches and cowbell strikes have never sounded so good together.
This is definitely an album of ups and downs. Those disillusioned by Geuro probably won’t find a lot here to change their minds, since, after all, they are still the same songs. But those willing to look a little deeper will doubtless find something on this album to like, given its variety and depth.
