- The resurrection of Chaz Jankel by the Tirk label last year was one of 2007's most welcome surprises. Jankel, a member of Ian Dury and the Blockheads during their fertile late '70s incarnation, spent the first half of the 1980's penning quirky synth-pop tracks that took advantage of rubbery keyboards and tight drums to get the dancefloor moving. Jankel's dance work seemed to have been forgotten by most, however, until Tirk's release of My Occupation, which collected many of his biggest solo tunes.
Jankel, glad to have his work back in print, also penned a new tune for the occasion entitled 'Get Yourself Together'. Matched up against his early work, it holds its own. Rickety synths, Jankel's falsetto and a Chic rhythm guitar dominate the mix, all leading into an ebullient chorus that features an aborted syn-organ line. The organ begs to be let loose, but charms by virtue of the fact that it's rudely cut off.
If you've heard the recently released Hercules & Love Affair's debut album, you can most likely picture the two remixes that they hand in here. The 'HercBump' mix mines the same aesthetic as 'Blind', while the 'House' mix utilizes acid to make its point. For many, the slavish devotion to classic dance music sounds on Hercules' album was the reason it worked so well. Here, however, the groove is lost. It almost sounds as if in focusing on making every sound as authentic sounding as possible, the big picture was lost along the way.
Todd Terje's re-edit of Jankel's 1981 #1 'Glad to Know You', on the other hand, retains a mystery so sorely lacking in Hercules' by-the-numbers remixes. Airy and light, Terje seems to be actually having fun with the source material. It's a lesson in how to re-edit and a nice contrast to the Hercules mixes.
TracklistA1 Get Yourself Together
A2 Get Yoursel Together (Hercules + Love Affair Hercbump Mix)
AA1 Get Yourself Together (Hercules + Love Affair House Mix)
AA2 Glad To Know You (Todd Terje Re-edit)