Get The Message EP

Album review

With a slightly rejigged start from the album version, removing the Marr solo intro and combining it with other guitar work and orchestrations, the single mix of "Get the Message" still shimmers with gentle, shuffling energy. Marr's overall guitar work combines a series of acoustic overdubs and more understated electric performances, while Sumner softly whisper/sings through the verses while getting a little more forceful on the choruses. It's a low-key song with charm in the end, heightened by some fine quick solos from Marr. The extended version that follows is actually the album take under a different name, but with a few extra instrumental breaks and the inclusion of Denise Johnson's lovely backing vocals at the end of the song. Two further takes on the song appear as well, both remixes from British dance outfit DNA, who had come to attention via their revamps of Suzanne Vega's "Tom's Diner." While the group uses a similar mid-paced funk bass/drum combination for the rhythms, they also add a very Happy Mondays "Step On"-style piano line and other odd little samples for the "Groove Mix," creating a not bad new hybrid. The "Sin Mix," in contrast, is a bit more straightforward and less interesting as a result. One wholly new cut surfaces to fill out the disc, an extended mix of the instrumental "Free Will." It's mostly a sampling workout, using James Brown beats and unidentified broadcast bits in combination with an OK enough house string-synth arrangement and rhythm track along with polite Marr light funk guitar.

© Ned Raggett /TiVo