The year 2006 was a pretty good one for antennasia. They released an album that year that was quite different from their previous work. Different enough to make a lot of heads turn and several tracks even got valuable airplay on Ryuichi Sakamoto's radioshow on JWave. 23 Bluebird Street, Velo-City, as the album was creatively titled, certainly created a momentum for the duo that hardly faded during these past two years. The concept of the album was that you entered a city and the tracks guided you through several events that were happening in that city. Well, two years is a long time and the folks in townhall have made some radical changes to the layout of the city. It was time for a new roadmap, which has now been delivered by antennasia. Velo-City : Remixed features nine tracks, wherein eight of the original songs have been remixed by some of the most creative minds in the world. The vocals are the only thing that link to the originals, but aside from that, these are completely new experiences. The city isn't what it used to be, but have things changed for better or for worse? Let's take a closer look.

1. Velowitch's Trick (DJ3000 Motech Remix)
DJ3000 from Detroit has taken on Velowitch's Trick. The original was quite eerie, but DJ3000 transformed this nicely into a cheery clubtrack with typical Detroitesque synthchords, which sound like they came straight out of the 1980's.

2. Yojigen, Kosa, Shingo, Ikiru (Embee Remix)
For this track I had to check back on what the original sounded like. Swedish producer, songwriter, musician and DJ Embee has done a great job in taking vocalist san's fragile voice and build a whole new song around it. Piano and cello add a touching depth to this track.

3. First Flight (Lemongrass Remix)
The original First Flight stood out because of it's penetrating high pitched tones, which made dogs run off and had people checking their audio equipment. German-based producer Lemongrass has omitted this tone, but added a very engrossing bass in contrast. The whole track could be classified as uptempo lounge, which means it's not actually very uptempo. Long stretching notes are accompanied by subtle drum 'n bass percussion.

4. Blue Dress / Paradise Parlor (Nerve's Breakdown Mix)
Aside from the guest remixers, antennasia's very own Nerve adds a renewed vision to one of his tracks. No, make that two of his tracks. The basis for this remix is Blue Dress, but he added some elements from the Paradise Parlor track. An odd combination to be honest, as the former is probably the most dramatic sounding song from the original album, while the latter is a tongue-in-cheek experimental funtrack. Nerve gets away with it by adding a catchy beat and a matching bassline. From all of antennasia's five previous studio albums, this is probably the most danceable work I've ever heard coming from Nerve.

5. Pegasus (Rob Smith Remix)
Having Rob Smith doing a remix of an antennasia song is rather special, as he counts as one of the original influences for the group. If you've only heard 23 Bluebird Street, Velo-City, then you might not be aware of the fact that their former work was leaning heavily on dub and reggae. With this remix, Rob Smith reintroduces the lead heavy Bristol bass to an antennasia song and by adding strings and electric piano, he avoids it from becoming a cold barebones dub track.

6. Nightcamel (Icaseatic Aching Melt : Version by Team Doyobi)
Another example of how you can completely make the original song disappear. You have to be able to appreciate Team Doyobi's style, which is often described as 'glitch' and '8-bit'. They're manipulating raw sinuses and squares and the original vocals barely stand a chance to rise up from the apparent battlefield. That's not an entirely bad thing though, because the end result is very creative and I personally rather enjoy this sort of over the top machinery sound.

7. Mannequin (Ruibyat Rework)
If antennasia didn't use electronics, it would sound like this. No, actually, this is what Ruibyat sounds like. A Japanese duo consisting of Wataru Abe and Momoko Yoshikawa. They've done a brilliant job in understanding the orginal Mannequin and added their own vision, where an accoustic guitar and an accordeon play the lead roles. They supurbly manage to retain the drama of the original. Ruibyat have released their debut-album 'Theme of Love' this november and if this remix is any taste of what they are capable of, then this album is very much worth checking out.

8. Blue Dress (Hird Remix)
Another Swedish producer; Hird aka Christoffer Berg. Like Nerve, he did some handywork on Blue Dress, but he's taken it into a completely different direction. Starting out rather minimalistic, this remix is constantly building up tension, with a bit of an anti-climax at the end.

9. Nightcamel (Hybrid Leisureland Remix)
Hybrid Leisureland has build up quite a reputation for exposing the listener to eleborate dreamscapes. The vocals of san always lend themselves very well for these gloomy, yet colourful panoramas, but I'm rather surprised by the fact that this remix is actually equipped with a beat. I would almost call it uncharacteristic, but then again, it works very well and it's not dominating the track. This remix is properly positioned at the end of the album, where the listeners can reflect on their new experiences in Velo-City.

Conclusion
If you thought you had seen all of Velo-City, you couldn't be more wrong. Velo-City : Remixed is build on the same foundations as the original album, but delivers a whole new set of emotions to the listener. Producer Nerve mentioned that some of these remixes are better then the originals, but I don't think that's the right approach. Velo-City : Remixed has earned a place adjacent to the original. Call it an extension if you like. In the end, this is a very diverse collection of tracks. There's something here for everyone and even if none of the remixers appeal to you, there's still that enchanting voice of san to set your pulse racing. That alone is worth another visit to Velo-City, simply because she's featured on every billboard in town.
Velo-City : Remixed is out now in Japan. Should be available worldwide soon.