Man, if yo' mama knew how to run a recording studio, even she'd be remixing stuff. Seems like everyone in the music industry's philosophy is that with a few beats inserted here and there, Johnny Rocker can become Jimmy Hip-Hop or Jack Jungle. One song suddenly becomes three or four; EPs and albums are produced, each with a special bracketed description, denoting "[Booty Mix]" or "[Spaced-out Vibe]" to let you know which cow the artist is trying to cash in on. This is not to say that all remix albums are intrinsically crap outs-- recent Tortoise, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, and Jon Spencer Blues Explosion remix albums have produced some great reinterpretations of what were already great songs. But Tranquility Bass's Beep!!! has a long way to walk if it wants to hang with those records.

The album consists of various remixes of three songs "La La La," "We All Want To Be Free" and "The Bird," and lasts almost 70 minutes. The problem here rests not in the remix work (performed by Tom Chasteen, Fatboy Slim, Ultramarine, and aging Tranquility Bass hipster Mike Kandel), but in the shoddiness of the source material.

The most successful moments Beep!!! has to offer result from modifications made to "La La La," a catchy, funky tune, which features a host of interesting melody lines from which to work with. Kandel reconstructs the song as a funky, scratch-heavy hip-hop number, while Fatboy Slim adds funky electro beats and some electric guitar noodling. Similarly, the one Kandel-remixed version of "The Bird" floats effortlessly on an understated dark beat.

But most of Beep!!! consists of various remixes of the god-awful "We All Want to be Free." Whether presented as an Alannah Myles rock number or as an uptempo techno workout, the song smacks of an insipid vibe similar to that heard in recent soda ads. That this song is allowed center stage on the record is quite unfortunate, and one can only hope that this was some sort of weird record label decision (and not one made by Kandel).

It's a bit sad to listen to, especially given that an occasional good moment pops through every so often. It's like mama said when I cried for more candy:

"You were a whiny sonovabitch the first time. Don't push your luck."

-Samir Khan