On the last post, we looked at the debut album by Mothloop. It was released almost two years ago, but the band [or the tracks] did not stay idle since then. A series of five lathe-cut singles were released with good, old fashioned remixes of all ten tracks on the CD but if you missed out on the fussy lathe-cuts [there are still two releases in stock], there’s been a new compilation of most of these [with a new one for good measure] in the “Decontaminated” remix album that just came out on April 4th. And if you would prefer the remixes on CD, you are covered. Either original or remix, I have a new toy to play with in Mothloop, who are crafting modern music thick with the values of the Post-Punk era.

MOTHLOOP: DECONTAMINATED

Mothloop: Contaminated Disco – UK – CD/DL [2023]

1. Information Dislocation (Mothloop Vs Sons of Ken) 4:17
2. Electricity (FUSED 2025 Remix) feat. Bella Pearl 3:39
3. Quiet Discipline (Pulses Remix) 3:44
4. We Built This Machine (Montage Collective Worker Bees Mix) 3:35
5. Relentless (Means of Production Mix) 5:17
6. Quantum Creep (Montage Collective Wanton Freak Mix) feat. Leon Alain 4:44
7. Together Apart (Tipsy Eyes Remix) 4:38
8. We Fight Together (Gemma Cullingford’s Blah Blah Blah Mix) 3:00
9. 21st Century Requiem (CWNN 19th Century Remix) feat. Erik Stein and Bella Pearl 5:37
10. Nervous Rex (Planet Neil’s Flesh and Blood Mix) 3:51

The remixes exploded out of the starting block with the Sons Of Ken mix of “Information Dislocation.” The tempo was kicked up several notches and the Acid House sauce was slathered on liberally with 808 cowbell and maximum squelch. There was a little of the threatening hushed vocal from singer Martin James, but for the most part, we got right down to the killer chorus for the now full-on dancefloor banger. The strategic tattoos of Simmons Drums only served to propel the track forward and faster. The wild synth solo at the climax was properly Jazzgasmic. Is that a word?

“Electricity” in its FUSED Mix began its new life as a deceptive march. The new mix held the spotlight more firmly on Bella Pearl’s vocalizing, which was now in the star seat although her deadpan rap was cut short as a tease at the climax. The Pulses remix of “Quiet Discipline” transformed what was originally a knowing nod and wink in the direction of Throbbing Gristle. This new mix was closer to a dub mix with the backing vocal from Pia Nesvara simply repeating the “happiness is a state of mind” hook like a mantra.

The Means Of Production mix of “Relentless” was the closer to a dub mix of the track and was the one mix here that I though ended up with diminishing returns. More to my style was the Tipsy Eyes mix of “Together Apart.” The darker melodrama injected into the track enhanced Martin James’ very Mallinder delivery of his maximum threat factor vocal. The cinematic horns remained for their unique power set into the electro music bed. Listen and love.

As high as I held the original mix of “21st Century Requiem” I thought that the Cult With No Name remix had managed to enhance a song that I felt had superb lyrics by removing most of them. Of course there were compensatory gestures to atone for the missing [fantastic] lyrics as the elegant vibe of the track has been pushed even further. This one now felt like one of OMD’s explorations of Kraftwerk’s “Europe Endless” that I can never tire of. Motorik train rhythms with elegant piano and choral patches gave this mix a vibe that I could listen to on loop for days. As you can hear below.

And the package closed out with a bang on Planet Neil’s Flesh + Blood Dance Mix of “Nervus Rex.” The mix cunningly called out to a couple of classic, if disparate, threads of dance music history at once as the dinky synth melody dropped into the track could have been from “Funkytown.” Yet it was juxtaposed against it a rhythm section [motorik railroad tempo boom bap + string synths] ripped from the holy “Trans Europe Express.”

This was a wining remix album that vacillated between dancefloor abandon cranked up one or two notches higher [if your can believe that] and dub treatments that served to emphasize track elements that tended to get lost in the full-on densepack arrangements that the original album held as its calling card. Both approaches have their charms, and the remix album will cost a modest £6.00 either on CD or strictly as a DL. Keeping in mind that the CD comes with up to full 24/44.1 download files as well! So unless the shipping will kill you, you should opt for that CD while available! DJ hit that button!

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