Real to Reel

For their fourth album, Noiseshaper, the duo comprised of Austrians (transplanted to Berlin) Florian Fleischmann and Axel Hirn (who then picked up again and moved to London) take stock of where they've been and where they might yet go. As before, dub is the key to everything, but Noiseshaper has never been content to play by the rules and some of the remixes here are decidedly unorthodox. "Me Done," featuring Ari Up, the former Slits singer, is given an aggressive bass'n'drum-sated bottom that catapults it into a mega-dancehall floorshaker, while "Rough out There," loses the Pink Floyd-ish vibe of the original (the title track of the band's last album) in favor of a slathering of spacey, reverb-drenched loops. A handful of other tunes from past Noiseshaper albums get the overhaul treatment here, best among them "You Take Control," from the band's 2003 Signal album, featuring Jackie Deane's soulful Motown-inspired vocal. The set opens with Noiseshaper's remix of Sly & Robbie's "Vice Vanity," which sets the tone for surprises to come, its hardcore dancehall vocalizing offset by a trippy Indian sitar weaving its way through the melody.