Take Five

The opening remix of "October Love Song" summarizes the mid-'80s, at least for the lucky ones. Keyboard motifs are the equivalent of a pelting with meringue in a mix where there's still plenty of room for the requisite breathy vocal as well as touches of abstract effects. Only one thing would halt the use of the word "sexy" as a description for this track — and that would be the memory of a magazine editor threatening the lives of any pimply pipsqueak who dared to mention eroticism in a record review. Attention will waver as "Relay" proceeds from the "Oh Mickey" riff to bargain-bin exotica. It isn't quite a complete doze-off, nor will the aroma of the subsequent "Smell the Roses" awaken the unconscious like a dose of smelling salts. It is lazy, dreamy, echoey, with a vocal atop that wavers between Pink Floyd, Jandek, and Daniel Johnston. The flip side of the EP makes a strong case for redemption of this effort. The question is will the listener still be awake to manipulate the record player, perhaps by then having passed the release off as simply one great song plus filler. "Love Cuts," again a remixed presentation, starts off bravely and sustains an extended form, the musical equivalent of taking deep breaths when stressed. In this case the vocal sound, although hardly beautiful, manages to fill the niche it is intended to, other corners chiseled in with evocative and imaginative drumbeats and a range of other hypnotic effects. This is a creation that holds up well against so much similar material that has been issued in the ensuing decades, a compliment that is also meant to acknowledge the amount of technological development in electronic music-making apparatus since that time. Chris Carter and Cosey Fanni Tutti were never just about gear by any means, though — their sense of atmosphere and drama, when engaged, makes this electronica of more than average interest.