Some people are born to ride free. Some people, on the other hand, will parade through life to the applause and acclaim of all around them. Carl Craig is one of those people. Since he stepped out onto center stage of Detroit techno, whatever he's released has been graced with universal acclaim. And while it's true that much of what he's produced is noteworthy, he's far from being able to turn muck into brass.

I've found that it's Craig's work under aliases that merits the real props. His 69 and Paperclip People guises give him the freedom to funk and get the floor buckling; as Innerzone Orchestra, Craig seriously indulges in his Sun Ra fantasies and I can't help but be sucked in. But the two albums released under his birthname seem awkward, stilted, and striving for "art" status.

Designer Music: The Remixes is an awkward compilation of Carl Craig's remixes of other musicians' material and as such showcases both his strengths and his indulgent arty weaknesses. On this disc, Craig veers from excellence to insouciance, and expects not to be called on it.

United Future Organization's "Planet Plan" is first up, setting the tone for the first half of the collection. The remix sounds as though the extent of the additional production was appending his own name to the track credits. As for his reworking of conguero Johnny Blas' "Picadillo," Craig has stripped the Havana party horn blasts and let the congas rumble on for eight minutes. To be fair, "Picadillo" works as a DJ tool, and in doing so, harkens back to the original Designer Music 12" Craig released for the long since defunct Planet E subscription series. "Picadillo" could easily serve as a transition disc from one Nuyorican effort to the next, but I question the need for it to be compiled.

However, Craig's Planet E Special mix of Incognito's "Out of the Storm" more than deserves inclusion on every techno compilation. Yes, every one. Craig takes Incognito's smooth, radio-friendly vocal jazz and transforms the band's oh-so sophisticated schlock into unadulterated techno soul. This is the track you should play to those who claim that music made by machines (e.g. techno) is devoid of soul. Out of a slopping, slinky downtempo rhythm, Craig develops a whirling dervish of ARP lines capable of transporting even the most stolid heart.

Unfortunately, the high induced by "Out of the Storm" is robbed from us by the mix of Telex's "Moscow Diskow." But to his credit, Craig isn't working with great material to begin with here. Contrary to what the Belgian cultural attaché might have you believe, Telex never did anything to disabuse the rest of the world of the notion that Belgium is an artistic vacuum. "Moscow Diskow" is an excruciating, Ed Wood Jr.-esque attempt at aping the glories of Kraftwerk. Telex's abilities are so minuscule that Craig is left to extend the track by four minutes or so, plopping in some extra-spacy blurps and blops, and collect his large honorarium check.

By the time you've reached this point in the album, you're praising whoever designed the skip forward button. Why bother with Craig's mix of Inner City's "Buena Vida," which is little more than an a cappella or the directionless Urban Affair mix of BT's "Moment of Truth?"

Of course, Craig forces us into enduring such brackish gruel in order to reap our reward: the final three tracks. Here, he showcases the dancefloor, where he's inarguably most secure and expert. The remixes of Spacetime Continuum, Alexander Robotnik, and Ron Trent each exude the no-nonsense nous Craig demonstrates whenever he produces a Paperclip People track. Yes, these remixes are minimal-- there are no jazzy tropes, no Latin flourishes. But in their stead, you get the pure sound of mechanical funk that sets Detroit apart from the rest of the world.

Designer Music: The Remixes just about makes a case for remixing being more than a mere marketing ploy. But only just.

-Paul Cooper