MattMan Posted March 30, 2009 Share Posted March 30, 2009 Celtic Cross - Hicksville Remastered & Remixed (Liquid Sound Design) 2009 1 - Mundis Imaginalis (Tribal Dawn Mix) (10:40) 2 - Khatmandu (Iona On The Ganges Mix) (7:49) 3 - Jade Gates (Beauty Knows No Pain Mix) (11:51) 4 - Mundis Imaginalis (Flowercolouredpowerchild Mix) (7:02) 5 - Schwazz (Until Nothing Can Reach Us Mix) (7:57) 6 - Straight For The Jiggular (Crystal Journey Mix) (5:34) 7 - Mundis Imaginalis (The Acoustic Mix) (7:34) 8 - Khatmandu (Short Cut Mix) (6:46) 9 - Digajigg (Babba G Mix) (7:43) Our friends Simon, Saul and Martin has released a set of remixes for our enjoyment. Not before hearing this release, and viewing the beautiful album cover have I realized the humorous undertones in this musical creation. Make no mistake, this is the perfect combination of Posfordian magic and Rednex music (at least towards the end). I don't normally comment on particular tracks as that makes absolutely no sense giving you the ups and downs of a romantiscized, heavily metaphorical idea of what the music sounds like, but I'll give it a go. First of all, it is important to read Youth's ideas and concept for this album, explained in the sleeve, and here. Second of all, the remixes on this album are all new, although some of them are similar to previously released ones, such as Mundis Imaginalus (Tribal Dawn Mix) which is another name for Lapis featured on LSD's compilation Liquid Dub Volume Seven, and Mundis Imaginalis (Flowercolouredpowerchild Mix) released on the compilation "The Warp Experience" from the beforementioned label. Enough of this, let's get to it. This remix album is awesome. Awesome, you say? Yes, awesome. Starting off with Mundis Imaginalis (Tribal Dawn Mix), we're introduced to a version of Mundis Imaginalus without that screeching high pitch sound at the very beginning featured in the original one. Then it gets better. "Lapis" is a good enough reason to pay the 50 dollars or whatever you have to in order to get Liquid Dub Volume Seven. A bubbly version. The second half of the track goes into a much more beat-oriented screechy sound that is very enjoyable. Track #2, Khatmandu (Iona On The Ganges Mix) is naturally a remix of Khatmandu. Not too much changed here, some vocals and different mastering. Still enjoyable. Track #3 Jade Gates (Beauty Knows No Pain Mix) is one of my 3 favourites. Excellent, excellent guitar play, extended from the intro of Jade Garden, the beat is rearranged and more percussion added. It's longer and features some extremely well played violin parts, and some really great samples are used. Goodness, this is a great remix. Track #4 Mundis Imaginalis (Flowercolouredpowerchild Mix) is a stripped version of the original, more primitive and emphasis on the synthline we know very well from the original. A good remix here too. Track #5 Schwazz (Until Nothing Can Reach Us Mix) is a slight remix and re-arrangement of the original Shwazz (which is my absolute favourite Celtic Cross track). It's safe to say this is rearranged somewhat, and put together in an odd way, making it longer, but not very different. Some odd choices here leaves me puzzled. For the better, I think. On to track #6 Straight For The Jiggular (Crystal Journey Mix) which is an energetic remix of the track Hicksville. It's more primitive and features some heavily Posford-chopped sounds and vocals, and an extension of the guitar play. Track #7 Mundis Imaginalis (The Acoustic Mix). This is my second of 3 favourites. The acoustic parts of Mundis Imaginalus stretched and amazingly etched together with a 3rd guitar playing over it. Towards the end we're introduced to familiar synths and melodies. Great stuff. What a remix! Track #8 Khatmandu (Short Cut Mix) is remastered heavily, and rearranged in a very interesting way. Synths added and eerie vocals here too. Jummy. Track #9 seals the deal with Digajigg (Babba G Mix), which is the third favourite of mine. This is something very, very, very different. This is a Darshannon remix. Extremely trancey, this sounds like something that could come out of "The Lone Deranger" hadn't it been for the hicksville of it all. This is, ladies and gentlemen, Rednex featuring Hallucinogen. We've got the Hallucinogen baselines, the "chicki-chicki-chicki-chicki" Hallucinogen percs we know so very much twiddling in the tweeter area, the redneck yokel "yeah yeah yeah yeah" in between the beats, we've got Posfordian chopped vocals (oh, how we love them...), we've got Darhsannon Violin play, and the rest needs to be experienced first hand. What a track. This is the crown of the album, and I can only imagine the laughs the guys must have had while making this track. There you have it. A set of mature, well produced, well mastered, well psychedelic remixes to our fantastic Hicksville release released 9 years ago. This is great from start to finish, and a very, very worthy set of remixes of the near untouchable experience that is Hicksville. All I can say is get this, and get it now. http://www.discogs.com/Celtic-Cross-Hicksv...release/1704172 http://www.psyshop.com/shop/CDs/dra/dra1cd089.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buzzman Posted March 31, 2009 Share Posted March 31, 2009 Why don't you write your reviews in sections? It gets very difficult for me to read... But thanks anyways though, I'll be getting this later today Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Cocco Posted March 31, 2009 Share Posted March 31, 2009 Are you serious? They returned to remix one of the greatest Psy/CHILL albums?!Longer samples (Psyshop, Saikosonds, and others who reduced their prices were smart to comfort buyers during poor economic times).http://www.saikosounds.com/english/display...ase.asp?id=7838Update: Some form of review coming over the coming weeks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattMan Posted March 31, 2009 Author Share Posted March 31, 2009 Oh Jon, this is A+ if you speak my language. :drama: :posford: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest antic Posted March 31, 2009 Share Posted March 31, 2009 Oh Jon... Damn! This sounded like a line from cheap porn movie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
healium Posted April 1, 2009 Share Posted April 1, 2009 Oh Antic, behave! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astrognomix Posted April 1, 2009 Share Posted April 1, 2009 Just ordered this off psyshop... will DL in the meantime, as the samples sound absolutely incredible. Cannot wait to hear it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psychedelic_mustache Posted April 3, 2009 Share Posted April 3, 2009 Yes, there is indeed some pretty good stuff on this disc. Nice to hear some "new" Posford material. Still, it is not by far a contender for album of the year. It is very uneven - from the wonderfully brilliant, to the hopelessly mediocre. Not very suprising, I guess, considering that the album consists of stuff that they didn't find room for in the original album. The darshannon remix (digajigg), is clearly an example of this, very corny. Too much Rednex, far from enough LSD. That being said, the disc comes recomended - if nothing else for historical purposes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattMan Posted April 3, 2009 Author Share Posted April 3, 2009 I dream of wearing ragged pants with red suspenders, a straw hat, long messy hair, and churning Digajigg loud at an Alabama barn dance full of yokels. It's true. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
longloststar Posted April 9, 2009 Share Posted April 9, 2009 I prefer the original to be honest, the more minimalistic approach of it (compared to this release) lends itself better to the whole celtic-contemplative feel of the album. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sawfly Posted May 10, 2009 Share Posted May 10, 2009 It's a good album but I just wish they'd included all the original tracks and just sticked with using one remix of each track. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidetrakkt Posted May 11, 2009 Share Posted May 11, 2009 It's a good album but I just wish they'd included all the original tracks and just sticked with using one remix of each track. Based on the liner notes and the packaging (the spine simply says Hicksville instead of mentioning the remixes), as well as the timing of the two releases, I suspect that the original plan was to release a double cd package with the original album remastered and the remix cd as a bonus cd. However, Avatar instead released the reissue of the original and LSD released the bonus cd as its own album. Does anyone know if that is indeed the case? That being said, while it does not compare to the journey the original is, I have really enjoyed listening to this cd. I believe all of these remixes are older, from the same sessions as the original album or earlier. Digajigg was actually released as a 12" three years before the Celtic Cross album (under the project name Baba G) : http://www.discogs.com/Baba-G-Dig-A-Jig/release/258763 so Darshannon came after that track rather than Digajigg being a remix of Darshannon... So don't think of this as a "new" Celtic Cross album, but rather as a companion piece to the original (hopefully to tide us over until they release a brand new second album). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murphythecat Posted May 11, 2009 Share Posted May 11, 2009 Its still an amazing release Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sawfly Posted May 11, 2009 Share Posted May 11, 2009 Yeah I liked it too, alot... Even though my fav track from the album, Hicksville was missing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
p(sy)ayam Posted May 11, 2009 Share Posted May 11, 2009 Yeah I liked it too, alot... Even though my fav track from the album, Hicksville was missing that's exactly what disappointed me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Cocco Posted May 11, 2009 Share Posted May 11, 2009 Celtic Cross - Hicksville (Remastered & Remixed) (Liquid Sound Design) 2009 1 - Mundis Imaginalis (Tribal Dawn Mix) (10:40) 2 - Khatmandu (Iona On The Ganges Mix) (7:49) 3 - Jade Gates (Beauty Knows No Pain Mix) (11:51) 4 - Mundis Imaginalis (Flowercolouredpowerchild Mix) (7:02) 5 - Schwazz (Until Nothing Can Reach Us Mix) (7:57) 6 - Straight For The Jiggular (Crystal Journey Mix) (5:34) 7 - Mundis Imaginalis (The Acoustic Mix) (7:34) 8 - Khatmandu (Short Cut Mix) (6:46) 9 - Digajigg (Babba G Mix) (7:43) I'm surprised they remixed Mundis Imaginalis three times here. Once we add the two Khatmandu remixes, that's more than half the album sharing two main tunes. Things sound similar. Fortunately they left out a track or two, possibly three from the original that were lackluster and not really worth putting EXCEPT Hicksville was worth it. But then I realized that Hicksville never seemed like it could use remixing. It was wonderful the way it was. Why mess with it? The artists remixed and remastered the other best tracks. I can understand some listeners being disappointed since the artists acknowledged their best Celtic Cross work (to my knowledge) minus Hicksville. Nice colorful cover btw, though they photo-shopped a piece art or crap (you decide) and made it look cool. Lovely.THE GOOD The mastering. The music sounds so much more clear, broadened, and enhanced in comparison to the original. There are several strong remixes here. I prefer Digajigg (Babba G Mix) here over the original version. I think it's great. Fans of the original will appreciate this release. I'm sure it will attract new listeners too. Musically, it's well produced. Simon Postford and company added a lot, while keeping in tune with what made the original the sleeper cult hit that it became to some degree.THE NOT SO GOOD Three remixes of one track takes up one-third the album and gives it a samey feel to some degree THROUGHOUT. I got TIRED fast of listening to Mundis Imaginalis due to it appearing three times. Its main "pleasant" tune may exhaust listeners by the time the album's finished. Also, Mundis Imaginalis (The Acoustic Mix) is little more than an ongoing loop of the main tune. There are some nice sounds around it but it's TOO REPETITIVE. I find it the weakest, most unnecessary one here actually, acoustic or not. Few remixes are just not THAT good, and both Khatmandu remixes appear to have little to distinguish the two. I feel like I'm hearing the same song twice on the same album, regardless of the differences. In conclusion, if one can look past the shortcomings, he or she is in for some great music. Celtic Cross - Hicksville (Remixed) is definitely one of the better releases of 2009. Due to one remix too many though, repetition, I was disappointed to some degree. Moreover, this is not better than Solar Fields - Movements. My favorite track is actually the last due to the strong and danceable Goa influenced sound and vibe. I don't mind the celtic tune. I love the skipping female vocal and various other voice and sound work. The song's fun and energetic; just like the original, it seems like it could have been off a completely different Psy album, but I like it (especially after all of those same sounding tunes with relatively different backgrounds appearing before it). Overall this is a good release with a handful of great tracks or vice-versa. It's just nothing spectacular unless I suppose you are a hardcore fan and absolutely love this thing, which due to its weaknesses, I'm more a fan of the mastering and a track or two here and there more than the overall full package, or compilation of remixes.Favorite tracks 1, 2, 6, 8, 9BSampleshttp://www.saikosounds.com/english/display...ase.asp?id=7838http://www.psyshop.com/shop/CDs/dra/dra1cd089.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sawfly Posted May 12, 2009 Share Posted May 12, 2009 This album would've been soooooo good if only they'd just did what the title suggests, a remix album of Hicksville Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trance2MoveU Posted May 12, 2009 Share Posted May 12, 2009 This would make a good coaster for a glass of water. Here is an example of one of the most disappointing albums. How many were expecting great things from this one? Failed miserably. Blatant cash grab? Mdk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Cocco Posted May 29, 2013 Share Posted May 29, 2013 Just pay to download Digajigg (Babba G Mix). It's so uplifting, lively, and enjoyable. Because of that track, I have returned to this album over the years. Otherwise I'm not a huge fan. Two much remixing of the same song repetition gets redundant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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