About a year after the release of the brilliantly constructed debut album Aéropop,
singer/songwriter/producer Alexander von Mehren released an album of remixes titled Aéropop Revisited. The concept was simple. Von Mehren handed off the results of six years of meticulous hard work to like-minded individuals who would hopefully treat his shiny pop gems with the respect they deserved. He really couldn't have picked anyone better than Sean O' Hagen of High Llamas, Andy Ramsay & Joe Watson (both formerly of Stereolab), or French chamber popper Orwell, each of them give von Mehren's original tracks a gentle, spacy tweak that serves the songs very well. Norwegian group Young Dreams, Dave LeBleu of the Mercury Program, and the downtempo producer Crookram all treat the material with kid gloves too. All three mixes stray a little farther afield then their previously mentioned three as Young Dreams draw out the laid-back and smooth vibes in von Mehren's music, LeBleu stretches out with some post-rock jamming, and Crookram dips a toe into playground-ready hip-hop. While many remix projects end up as incoherent messes or ego trips for the remixers, Aéropop Revisited works as a perfect companion to the original work, one that no doubt left perfectionist von Mehren breathing a deep sigh of relief when the songs came back.