Frames, released late in 1995, is
haujobb.'s addition to the trend of industrial bands to release albums featuring remixes of their own songs by their contemporaries. In this case,
haujobb. are in good company, since
Frames features not only their own reinterpretations of their material but have alongside them artists such as
Forma Tadre,
Mentallo & the Fixer, and
cEvin Key from
Download. Almost all the material on
Frames was featured in its original form on their previous album,
Freeze Frame Reality (though the U.S. Pendragon release also has the original material from their first single, "Eye Over You," as bonus tracks). On the whole, the remixes featured on this EP are more forceful and sometimes aggressive than the elaborate electronic soundscapes featured on earlier
haujobb. releases, but this is not to say that existing fans of this outfit will be disappointed -- the complexity is still there, but has been mediated into stronger beats and heavier sounds with very different feels and textures to the originals. They often very closely reflecting the music of the guest remixer, especially in
cEvin Key's case, which is probably the best outcome for any good remix release. The one track which bears exception to all of this is the "A4 -- Main Title," which has
haujobb. delving into their string arrangements again, though in this case the strings are not attached to any industrial number they've performed. This track was rumored to be a composition for introductory credits of the movie Alien 4 and shows that
haujobb.'s talents are not confined to the electro-industrial sound. After all this experimentation with a number of artists,
Frames ends with the feel of a collection of interesting sketches rather than a polished album release, yet it is as successful a venture musically as any other album released by this band, especially for existing fans. ~ Theo Kavadias