Album Details

• Artist: Wooden Shjips
• Album: Remixes 12
• Label: Thrill Jockey
• Year of Release: 2012
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: patchen on 2012-02-01

A three song release by Wooden Shjips is a cruel tease, but since they are remixes we'll live on until the next full-length. Ripley Johnson's continuing success in warping and sculpting sound into something larger and more lasting than its parts is certainly one of the bright spots on the scene today. "Remixes 12" is a short but rich, dense taste of sounds reworked, re-imagined, revealing hidden power and whimsy.

"Crossing Remix [Andy Weatherall]" is a cool mix of a track off of the "West" release, and it is built on early techno with the dirty bass-slapping of no-wave, bubbling underneath Wetherall's echoing trance-like vocals "Wiking Stew (aka Red Krayola-ing) [Sonic Boom]" is a swirling, expansive blending of all the tracks off of "West" into a whole, a dreamy, layered piece that, while busy and brash, is never blurred. If you don't get the Red Krayola reference, get Googling; it will change your life.
the finale, "Ursus Maritimus (Last Bear's Lament) [Kandodo wRipley]" is a twelve minute slithering snake of slow dark ambient and harsh but restrained industrial melody, haunting and hardcore at once. Built off of some Johnson melodies by Simon Price rather than a remix of a specific song, this is a massive, droning beast that will stick to your ribs for a long time.

Another winner from a different angle, "Remixes 12" airs more hermetic psych wonder from Wooden Shjips, one that both gives insight into hidden colors of existing songs and points to further possibilities for what is already a one of a kind and memorable sound.

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