What is the opposite of beautiful? ‘Black Sands Remixed’ takes the overwhelmingly beautiful and critically acclaimed album ‘Black Sands’ and turns it on its head. The result is not what logic dictates. By cracking open the idyllic paradise to expose the wires twinkling beneath the surface; Bonobo and his collaborators challenge the old adage that beauty is only skin deep.
When listening to ‘Black Sands’ you must lay down, close your eyes, and let the music slowly engulf you. However ‘Black Sands Remixed’ demands you sit up and listen. Each remix gratifyingly subverts the timeless ‘Black Sands’ with a darker more angular 31st century twist. Despite this shadowy façade, slivers of golden paradise still bleed through. Lapalux’s Finger on the Tape Remix pulls and stamps upon ‘Prelude’ until its surface glistens with hot binary drops. Banks’ remix of ‘The Keeper’ cultivates a menacing edge, driven by a brooding sub bass before bursting into a shower of electronic embers.
There are four versions of ‘Eyesdown’ which go together to form the beating heart of the album. The Floating Points Remix atmospherically crackles from a distance. The ARP 101 Remix, swells with globular synth bass. More introspective is ‘Eyesdown feat. Andreya Triana & Dels’ which is a heartfelt tale of unplanned pregnancy. The fourth and final take, the aptly named Machine Drum remix palpitates with frenetic patterns, rebounding unpredictably within a set of predetermined confines, like angry wasps trapped in a jar. Whether it was intentional or serendipity, all the different parts complement and build on each other echoing a narrative progression. Similarly to ‘Eyesdown’, ‘Stay The Same’ appears in more than one guise; Mark Pritchard’s contribution is a wistful, hopeless, isolated, guitar driven number, while later Blue Daisy creates a haunting rusted nightmare with jarring xylophone and thunderous vocals. The movement from wonky reality to horrific mental torment is reminiscent of a David Lynch production: think ‘Twin Peaks’- the unofficial soundtrack.
Whilst the worst remix albums often sound like post scripts; filled with soulless, mind numbing dance clones that dilute the meaning of the original material. ‘Black Sands Remixed’ is considered and complete; it explodes with creativity and variety. In addition to the remixes, there are new, unreleased, unadulterated Bonobo tracks, such as the achingly beautiful ‘Brace Brace’ which, together with the cooler than cool ‘Ghost Ship’ give just the right amount of counter balance to the dystopian onslaught rampaging elsewhere. Despite the numerous contributors, ‘Black Sands Remixed’ can, and should be listened to from start to finish. It balances beauty and darkness with masterfully restrained minimal composition throughout, rewarding the patient listener again and again with intricate subtleties and top notch crystal clear production.
Remixed is a much more intense, visceral way to experience ‘Black Sands’. It gives new meaning to many of the songs and glistens in understated emotion; emotion which normally gets lost when tearing tracks apart, mixing them up and sticking them back together again. ‘Black Sands Remixed’ is not just a good remix album, it is a great album FULL STOP. Buy it. This shouldn’t be left only for the Bonobo fans to enjoy.
Black Sands Remixed is out now!
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When listening to ‘Black Sands’ you must lay down, close your eyes, and let the music slowly engulf you. However ‘Black Sands Remixed’ demands you sit up and listen. Each remix gratifyingly subverts the timeless ‘Black Sands’ with a darker more angular 31st century twist. Despite this shadowy façade, slivers of golden paradise still bleed through. Lapalux’s Finger on the Tape Remix pulls and stamps upon ‘Prelude’ until its surface glistens with hot binary drops. Banks’ remix of ‘The Keeper’ cultivates a menacing edge, driven by a brooding sub bass before bursting into a shower of electronic embers. 
