- The Catholic archives may have taken over Macro's release calendar for half of 2009, but this latest installment isn't just a vinyl supplement to the acclaimed album, but the latest testament to Macro's perceptive and cutting-edge musical curatorship.
The record begins by digging into the trove of unheard material that Hi-NRG pioneer Patrick Cowley recorded with singer Jorge Socarras. Appearing near the end of the full-length package, the synth-heavy lover's incantation "Burn Brighter Flame" is raw new wave as suited to a label like Acute as a quote-unquote dance label. But when Socarras' mannerist vocal theatrics take five on the instrumental track the song's usefulness in the 12-inch format becomes clear, from the proto-EBM synth work to the vaguely dubby rhythm to the lapses into tight technoid repetitions. An excellent edit from Morgan Geist effectively punctuates the instrumental track with fragments of Socarras' singing. The original composition is left intact, but Geist pulls an eerie sense of ritual out of the blissed-out "aahs" that gives this version its own haunting character.
If calling in Geist was a no-brainer, synthesizer sprite Oni Ayhun makes for a more adventurous choice. The snarling rebuild of "Memory Fails Me" forgoes the studied breeziness of OAR 003, and certainly bears little resemblance to Cowley and Socarras' original. It does, however, make sense as a kindred spirit to Cowley's frantic synth work on "I Am Your Tricks." Over stomping industrial smacks, the layered din suggests a kid bashing at keyboard settings. By the end of the track's eight minutes, though, the melodies have melted and the sounds decomposed into something less haphazard but far stranger—a sort of electromagnetic whale song, if you will. If it's not the first thing you'd expect from a remix of a Patrick Cowley track, well, that's probably just what Macro had in mind.
Tracklist A1 Burn Brighter Flame
A2 Burn Brighter Flame (Instrumental)
B1 Memory Fails Me (Oni Ayhun Remix)
B2 Burn Brighter Flame (Morgan Geist Edit)