Companion to
Download's second album, The Eyes of Stanley Pain, Sidewinder is its namesake -- a collection of remixes and new material which may not have fit onto the album for various reasons, but still very worthy in their own right. This means that some tracks on this EP, namely "Shemaesin" and "Im5," make for even more challenging listening than anything on the album itself since they can wander off and do their own thing, discarding traditional musical structures and forms to replace them with
Download's experimentations with harsh, sculpted electro sounds and complex arrangements. It would really be these tracks which give Sidewinder its appeal to existing fans, alongside the elegant remix of "Attallal" (from
Download's first album release, Furnace) by
haujobb. The remixes from The Eyes of Stanley Pain ("Sidewinder," "Glassblower" and "Base Metal") may serve to hook new listeners, however, since these mixes are still close to the originals and are fairly representative of the album's sound overall. ~ Theo Kavadias