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. ~ Tim Sendra