There are times when dance music fans are willing to accept a great deal of foolishness from the international dance track industry. So many poorly phoneticized covers proliferate, and we wonder why big pop/rock names never take part in dance tracks. Fortunately, Robert Smith of The Cure has never been afraid of laying his distinctive and powerful voice to a good dance track (as he did with The Dust Brothers' "A Sign From God" back in '98 and on Junior Jack's "Da Hype" just recently), and his work with Piet Blank and Jaspa Jones on The Cure classic "A Forest" is the kind of dance track that 80s-heads heave a sigh of relief, college radio kids rave out, and even the most corporate know-nothing radio programmer sit up and take notice. Well, if only radio even cared about quality music anymore...
Fortunately, Water Music has licensed this historic collaboration for the US, and have released it in a sumptuous two disc-CD Maxi package. Disc One features seven audio tracks, while Disc Two features the video and an extensive multilingual interview with Blank, Jones, and Smith.
The Edit and Original Mixes are fierce, pumping housey trance that sound completely cutting edge even as they take you right back in time to the classic sound of The Cure. The Vegas Cossmo Remix feels like a nifty blend of contemporary big room house anthem and old-school mid-nineties euro-record (think Media Records Italy, but with a contemporary slant). The Tripeller Remix is a more subtle house mix that moves in and out of breaks elements throughout its running time.
The remaining three tracks on the audio disc are alternate mixes of other tracks, and they are quality trance with an epic house feel. I don't know enough of Blank and Jones' regular repertoire to comment on specific differences, but these three full-length tracks, plus the four mixes of "A Forest," would make the package essential for any real fan of dance, goth, or alternative music.
Disc Two's presentation of the video for "A Forest" is nice, and the interview that follows it is extensive and blissfully surreal. My only complaint is that there is no default menu, the video starts as soon as the DVD player reads the disc. This, however, is just gravy.
