Beijing duo
Gong Gong Gong introduced their unmistakable brand of stripped-down blues-punk to American audiences with a 2018 single and 2019 full-length Phantom Rhythm. Already capable of constructing hypnotic, commanding rhythms on just distorted guitar and bass, without a drummer, their songs seem pretty self-contained to begin with, but they invited several artists and producers to take them in different directions with this 2021 remix album. The remixers generally flesh the tracks out with beats and additional instruments, occasionally deconstructing the songs by scattering or repeating the vocals a bit, yet largely keeping their original moods intact.
P.E. (members of
Pill and Eaters) build on the already galloping "Ride Your Horse" with shuffling drums, a squealing saxophone solo, scattered pianos, and plenty of almost subliminal atmospheric effects. A few remixers lean into the harsh, distorted aspects of the duo's sound, with
Howie Lee going full-on industrial rock with his brooding, crunching version of "Gong Gong Gong Blues." Others are a bit more spaced out, such as Angel Wei's bongo-driven "The Last Note" or
Knopha's hallucinogenic dub version of "Sound of Love." Vancouver's
Yu Su turns "Some Kind of Demon" into mellow Fourth World ambient house, giving the guitars more of a dream pop quality. Perhaps most surprisingly, Wu Zhuoling transforms "Wei Wei Wei" into something resembling jump-up drum'n'bass, cutting loose with some fun dubby effects near the end. As with most remix albums, it's best to start with the original release first, but it's worth checking out if you're feeling adventurous. ~ Paul Simpson