Search - He Said Omala :: Matching Crosses

A motley crew of mixes that usually hit the spot

Said Head | MN, USA | 07/04/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"After getting the other two Graham Lewis/Omala collaborative albums Catch Supposes and Itness (as performed by an entity known as Hox) I decided grabbing this remix mini-album might be a nice addition to my collection (never too crazy about remixes, but as the CS material is nearly all ambient electronica I suppose some remixing wouldn't do much damage to the original designs. (The difference between He Said Omala and Hox by the way is that in the latter one member of Omala is absent). The best way to approach this EP is to think of the tracks as 'originally ____', as the tracks are listed, because most of them contain little cohesiveness to what you've heard on Catch Supposes.



What's presented on this disc is a varying forray of remix material, along with one 'cover' song by the original He Said Omala. Sort of a mixed bag, this CD doesn't flow nearly as well as its predecessor.



The first remix is a swing/jass interpretation using Lewis' heavy spoken/sung vocals (taken from Solid Or Vanish); it reminds me a lot of something Pig/Raymond Watts may've done in his earlier solo career, very minimal and a bit menacing at times. It definitely sticks out from the typically electronic/ambient affair of He Said/Omala/He Said Omala, but I personally really like it, and it's surprising just how smoothly the vocals work with the new music.



The second has a higher tempo than its original, though really has little/no resemblance to the original (originally Solid Or Vanish); it's good, but gets a little old.



The third mix (of Sea Horse Trading) is really dedicated to retaining the ambient feel of the original while having its own unique qualities, and for this I'd say it's my favorite mix.



Troubled Mind/Blue Bayou is an odd sort; really doesn't sound like something HSO would do, and isn't so much a cover as it seems to sample the original recording (though I wouldn't know for sure as I've never heard it before). But that doesn't take away the fact that I really enjoy it.



Bruce Gilbert's 'remix' of Post Code Orange bears no similarities to the original; I think he merely used a few little blips of the track to make some of his signature noise soundscape; it's a great listen for me, though doesn't really belong here, and doesn't feel all that inspired to me. Still, if you like Gilbert's own solo work as much as I do this is for you.



Just when you think there won't be any more surprises Graham himself offers a strong restructuring to Solid Or Vanish. It works in kind of a climactic fashion, rising gradually into a wall of textures, concluding the album in a dizzying mix.



Altogether it's not as strong as a whole as I expected, but coming from a number of different remixers it only makes sense for it to feel so. So if you like CS you could probably get into this, along with Hox's Itness ( He Said Omala off-shoot) or Omala's or Graham Lewis' own separate works."