Junior BoysThe Dead Horse EPDomino Recording Co.Three-and-a-half out of five stars
The only people who buy EPs are either really into methamphetamines or devout fans of a record’s creators.
Well, fans of Junior Boys and meth alike will be satisfied with The Dead Horse.
Junior Boys, known for its indie-electro-pop escapades, return with a five-song EP featuring songs from its previous album. Wait, why would one buy a CD comprising the same songs that appeared on a band’s full-lengths?
Oh, that’s because they’re remixes.
The reason The Dead Horse doesn’t fall flat on its face is because those chosen to do the remixes are accomplished artists spanning from London-based electro-poppers Hot Chip to world-beat-techno-jazz enthusiast Carl Craig, and even to dubstep specialist Kode9 (founder of Hyperdub Records).
Hence the variety of styles keeps each track fresh and listenable. There are plenty of beats to keep one on the dance floor. However, much of the music is subdued. The Dead Horse probably won’t help you get your freak on in public — maybe in private — but each track works great as ambient soundtrack.
Another interesting feature of the endeavor is that although The Dead Horse is an EP, each remix extends the original song’s playing time by two to four minutes. What the listener gets, rather than dissatisfaction with an entirely too-short album, adds up to about 40 minutes’ worth of good tunes.
That’s a standard full-length.
