The emFire Collection: Mixed, Unmixed & Remixed presents itself in a very obscure manner. I have listened to Sasha's original material before, such as on "airdrawndagger," and quite enjoyed his style of very tech-y production, displaying intricate and evolving layers of sound more so than obvious melodic lines. However, this collection focuses on the "mixed" and "remixed" portions of its subtitle and largely forgets the third part, which represents his original work. Sasha wanted to do something a little extra special for the CD release of his latest singles. He didn't have enough material to make a proper album, yet an EP release like Xpander wouldn't do either. So, he called up some of the hottest names in contemporary club culture to provide remixes. The result is a full disc's worth dedicated to this project, with Sasha's originals now bumped over onto a second disc.
Disc One is made up of remixes from four different outfits, on the four different singles. Each remixer has both a club mix, as well as a more downtempo mix of their assigned track. On the down side, the remixes both begin the set and comprises the bulk of the material. The problem is that the remixes aren't that powerful enough to generate their own worthy attention, and seem to veer away from the original tracks intent and sound. With the exception of The Field's Disco Mix of "Mongoose," showing out as a nice interpretation, but other than that we're presented with mostly monotonous takes on Sasha's inventive originals.
Disc Two is much more catchy, but still isn't complete. It's divided into two parts, the first being edits of most of the original tracks, as well as a remix of "Coma"(purchase/download). These edited tracks are mostly successful. The original tracks were very long-breathed, so it's not a difficult task to trim them down while still retaining the bulk of the material. These versions seem more preferable, as they "cut-to-the-chase." The Spangled Rubdub mix of "Coma" is very delightful and has made it into many of my radio shows. Additionally, "New Emissions Of Light And Sound" (Film Score) is remarkably multi-layered and quite a journey between mood swings.
Basically, this release is neither a true artist album, nor just a remix package. To determine the worth of owning these discs depends on what one is looking to get out of these CDs. Most people are going to be more interested in the second disc, which has tracks like "Shade," "Sparky," and "Mongoose" that are sparser than the types of tracks most expect from Sasha, but still ring truer to fans than anything to be heard on the remix disc. There's a fair amount to enjoy here, but it's presented in such a disparate way that there leaves something to be desired.
Released May 2008 on Ultra Records
