Music Review – Mixed Up by The Cure
I figured after watching the Cure live in concert I am slowly but surely metamorphosing into a completist where I absolutely need to own every Cure CD which I could get my grubby hands on. And so after having dinner with some Stanford ex-schoolmates I ambled down to HMV to pick up a few CDs which are missing from my collection.
One of those is Mixed Up. This is the sequel to the 1989 magnum opus Disintegration, and this lesser-known effort is kinda a screwball choice after the heady critical acclaim and lush, brooding soundscapes of Disintegration. Whether the band intended this as a proper sequel or a quirky interim project is unclear. Regardless, Mixed Up is a collection of some of the best-loved Cure songs, remixed and extended.
Now I hate remixes with a passion. It drives me batty everytime somebody butchers an original with a odious remix or cover (Avril Lavigne's beastly cover of System Of A Down's Chop Suey springs to mind, and it is so execrable that it makes me retch just typing about it). Ergo, remixes are a massive slippery slope.
But though I am still befuddled as to what to make of this album, the biggest shock is that well... it doesn't quite suck as monumentally as it should have. C'mon, dance remixes of Cure songs?!?? Had it been any other artiste, they would have been sent to the guillotine. Yet most of the tracks here are strangely listenable, and some even surpassed the originals. So amidst a goulash of bewilderment, chagrin and disorientation, here're the most coherent musings I can muster...
Lullaby – It has that cheesy 80s dance floor feel complete with humungous shoulder pads, flyaway hair and questionable, sleazy lighting. Which ain't bad in my opinion - I'd take 80s fromage any day over the contemporary dregs they term music nowadays. This is reminiscent of the Cure's rendition of David Bowie’s Young Americans, which I adore. My gripes are that the intro is too long and that incessant ice-cream truck tinkle in the background starts getting immensely annoying after a while. Plus, the bass line is criminally soft and it sounds majorly freaky when they juxtaposed Smith's vocals with a weird bass-y texture. But even though it doesn't match up to the original, it's still a solid opener to the album.
And since I love the video of the original track so much, I'll post a few screenshots:
Mr Smith in his jammies and perfect make-up.
Outside, a sinister spider web lingers into view.
Robert looking all snug in bed... if but a tad gloomy.
The rest of the band members are decked out in swathes of cobwebs and creepy Little-Drummer-Boy uniforms.
And suddenly! A mrrrovement in the corner of the room...
The ghoulish Spiderman appears...
And inches closer... I am loving the charred make-up.
Robert's face gets covered in a dusty, suffocating veil for no reason...
A close-up of his mouth... perfect teeth there... is he really British?
He slowly gets dragged off the bed towards a gaping, furry spider hole.
Simon puffs on his tuba earnestly.
And Porl looks absolutely sinister and macabre with his jerky movements and deathly pale complexion.
Poor Robert is slowly devoured by the noxious hole...
Sluuurp!!!
Close To You – The Cure specially shot a video for the remix – it was an extension from the original MTV that features the band groping amidst hangers, clothes and boots in a closet and being tossed off a cliff. The sequel has them swimming out in the ocean’s deeps wrestling with a giant squid and starfish – and I just dig how barmy and oddball it is. As for the track, it doesn’t have the groovy drumbeat of the original, but it’s chimerical and enthralling in its own right, and the interplay of the horns is excellent. It has a mellower, more R&B vibe, and ditches the whispery tone of the original, but still works really well. On a good day, I may just prefer it to the original (eek!!).
The MTV starts with the closet containing the Cure members tumbling off a rocky cliff...
And into the ocean.
Robert Smith is the first to venture out into the watery depths.
And promptly encounters a freaky giant orange squid...
Which tries to grab his legs with one of its tentacles, and later, to asphyxiate our hero...
Causing him to gurgle bubbles in the dreamiest of manners.
Meanwhile, Simon is kissed by an errant 2-D angelfish.
More outlandish marine creatures appear, including this starfish.
Whilst Robert continues singing with his trademark gesticulations and roll-my-eyeballs-as-far-back-into-my-sockets style.
Totally bizarre.
Fascination Street – I loathed it the first time I heard it, but it kinda grew on me. My maiden foray had me rolling around in hapless laughter and then as I gathered my senses I was kinda horrified at the prospect of the Cure adulterating one of their classics with a god-awful remix. The resultant carnage is a garbled mess of synths, and the 4-minute intro absolutely pureed my eardrums, a distressing experience which I can only describe as listening to the track whilst a dozen fire alarms are going off non-stop in the background. Thankfully, the damage ends once Smith starts singing, cos I love the vocals on this one. Funny thing is, I was increasingly hooked as the song progresses, and the synths at the end are actually quite an ominous delight. Verdict: Gets better with each listen, and now I officially love this version.
The Walk – I flat out prefer this to the original. This is a track meant for the dance floor, period, and I’m so happy the band went all out and overlaid it with a glorious fusion of disco sounds.
Lovesong – Strike two, this is far better than the original. Truth be told, even though this song is heralded as one of the timeless classics and their most pronounced American chart success, I just never fancied it much. It’s Smith’s wedding gift to his wife Mary, and it’s sweet, but the nondescript, soporific melody and repetitive lyrics just don’t jive with me. On the remix they amped up the bass, which is a simple masterstroke in making the tune instantly more full-bodied. This version is more chilled out, the guitars more jangly and less banal. Thumbs-up.
A Forest – I love this. It gives such a delightful, fresh twist to the version on Seventeen Seconds. It’s amazing how they can take a song with such a cold, angular and almost oppressive texture and infuse it with a luxuriance of floaty synths and lightweight guitar and transform it into something spacey and empyrean. I've heard many versions of A Forest, and this rendition is pretty good. My favourite take though, is one played live in the early 80s in Amsterdam - I never knew A Forest could sound so stellar when played tight and fast. Why, oh why, did you not play A Forest during your concert in Singapore??!??
Pictures Of You – Undoubtedly most lacklustre song in the album, and possibly one of the worst tracks the Cure has ever delivered. The cumbrous bass line is all wrong. This is abominable, pugnacious and downright piss poor. I never thought I’d be this revolted by any Cure song but this simply takes the biscuit; I’m just shell-shocked. Nobody messes with Pictures Of You, not even Robert Smith!!
Hot Hot Hot!!! – Thankfully, the trauma of the previous track is remedied by this funktastic rendition. Like the original, it is a prime induction into a dance-y mood. Every time I hear Hot Hot Hot!!! I am reminded of how clean Robert Smith looks in the video. He is sporting a cropped hairstyle and doesn’t look like he just dipped his head into a deep fryer, is decked out in a crisp, spiffy suit, wears no smudged lipstick and eyeliner and for once, sans make-up you can really see his creamy complexion. I’m just not used to him looking normal, much less like one half of the Blue Brothers. This is also their most Red Hot Chili Peppers-esque song, and reminds me of RHCP's Aeroplane. On the vocals, those who deem Robert Smith as some sort of gothic harbinger of all things gloom and doom have obviously not heard him on the more upbeat tracks. He can sound totally coquettish, teasing and frivolous when he's in the mood. Check out their cover of Young Americans – he even outdoes the androgynous Bowie, and that's sayin' something.
See what I mean... looking dapper and clean.
And sporting a short crop.
Kinda looks like Tom Hanks huh?
Even attempting a jig and a shuffle.
The Caterpillar – Another bingo. This song sounds better without the dissonant piano and strings which mar the original – here it's a relaxing, rhythmic safari listen, and I much prefer it this way.
In Between Days – Weird. It sounds like Oxide & Neutrino doing a cover of In Between Days. The tempo is slowed, and Robert’s vocals just sound so dragged out and elephantine here. And the original’s a fluffy, gossamery and jaunty track that this one just sounds ponderous by comparison. There’s a lengthy interlude of an underground garage slant at around 4 minutes which is actually quite fantastic, but then again it sounds so far removed from the original that it's quite missing the point? Bring back the acoustic guitar!
Never Enough – I don’t care much for the original; this version doesn't deviate too much but lacks a novel take as well. After Pictures Of You, the weakest link in the album.
Overall, I expected this to be a stomach-churning album but after a few listens I'd reckon it is money well-spent. This album went some way in making me get over my prejudice of remixes. Or should I say I still abhor most remixes, but Mixed Up is an anomaly in that it actually has more hits than misses. It still sounds aberrant by the Cure's standards, and goes to show that the band essentially defies definition or being pigeonholed into any genres. For the casual fan, you're better off starting off with Disintegration, Head On The Door or Wish, as those are more thematically tight and an easier listen. But if you're a fan wishing to explore one of the lesser known facades of the band's gamut of work, this one ain't a disappointing stop.
Tags: The Cure, Robert Smith, Simon Gallup, Porl Thompson, Jason Cooper, Pictures Of You, Lullaby, A Forest, Lovesong, Fascination Street, Close To Me, In Between Days
