Arctic Flowers
Remix
"Portland peace punk / deathrock hybrid Arctic Flowers have amassed an impressive roster of underground and punk musicians to compile their Remix LP, out now on Deranged Records. The 12-inch vinyl contains the bands first three-song EP followed by four remixes. The digital download of the album supplies an extra five remix tracks that could not fit onto the vinyl. "The first three songs are from 2010 and the early material showcases a pretty good sampling of Arctic Flowers range: the first song, Technicolor Haze, has always been one of the more dancefloor-friendly numbers as it is, and its not surprising the bulk of the remixes on this release are in fact remixes of this song. Slouching Towards Bethlehem, the second track, is another bass-guitar-driven gothic punk number. Neon Tombs is an all-out thrasher and serves as evidence of members history in uptempo hardcore punk. "The Remix LP furthers expands Arctic Flowers crossover appeal into post-punk, goth, and even industrial danceclub territory. The assemblage of remixes here from folks in Soft Kill, Toxic Holocaust, Rubella Ballet, Cadaver em Transe and others range from ultra-dancey (the Sid Truelove of Rubella Ballet remix of Technicolor Haze), to uber-gothy (the Soft Kill remix), to 80s dance (the Alex Cuervo of Espectrostatic / Hex Dispensers mix)-even dub (the Cadaver em Transe remix by Pato). "A few of the takes on Technicolor Haze-especially the Truelove and Cuervo remixes-seem readymade for the club floor. The Gold Zippers Purple Clouds remix is a deeply atmospheric gothic meditation; the Soft Kill remix is a doomy, almost Killing Joke-ish dirge that not unsurprisingly sounds a bit like an Arctic Flowers / Blessure Grave collaboration! A fun and interesting experiment the Flowers have here, an LP featuring punk, industrial and gothic versions of their songs." -Oliver Sheppard, CVLTnation.com.