Jazzanova, the Austrian nu-jazz collective and Sonar affiliate, appear to view this album as a handy portfolio. Just as freelance graphic designers carry around a folder of their snazzy java jacket designs for the local coffeehouse or program booklets for the neighborhood Peanut Butter Contemporary Kids Christian Street Dance Theater Ten-Year Jamboree, Remixes 1997-2000 serves as a quick introduction to give you a firm idea what they can do for your act.

In unexpected antithesis to the resurrectional artwork of Creed's Human Clay, these discs come functionally housed in brown cardboard, lest we get distracted from their 20 minor variations on light bossa beats and smooth Hancock chords. Miraculously, though, some Jazzanova remixes have ousted the original versions. Who remembers the King Britt mix of Ursula Rucker's succulently breasted (just listen!) "Circe?" The tech house has been altered to make time for a Sunday evening ale or two. As a bonus for ham-fisted DJs, Jazzanova have incorporated the exact sample as used by Daniel Ibbotson in his "Things Change" track. DJ-friendly this may be, but it sure isn't going to wake, say, the Elephant 6 collective into "outside the box" thinking.

The Jazzanova rework of Ski's "Fifths" exhibits two noticeable tendencies of this collection. Firstly, in an attempt to dupe us into believing that the band have earned their remix-fee and actually come up with fresh music, Jazzanova sample the Larry Levan mix of Gwen Guthrie's "Seventh Heaven" and clunkily incorporate that song's signature squiggle. By doing this, Jazzanova perhaps think they can convince us that they're spontaneous, off-the-wall, and possibly a smidgeon out-to-lunch. We're not fooled. To its credit, the remix finds all the right shimmy-shimmy dynamics, but dropping that squiggle is awkward at best.

Secondly, who the hell is Ski? Do Jazzanova scour the world for jazz-dance acts that only the sub-editors at Straight No Chaser care about? If the band's reputation bears any weight, we'd expect to find huge names on this collection of three years' worth of sweet labor. So where are they? Why is it that Groove Armada and Deep Dish get to tinker with Madonna's "Music" and not these fellows? Are Destiny's Child Austriophobes? Would the bassist from Jamiroquai walk out if this lot were let loose on their precious grooves?

I can't believe record companies are fearful of what Jazzanova might hand over. As Remixes 1997-2000 amply testifies, this band are utterly dependable; one can be entirely certain how the remix will sound. It comes down to one of two reliable styles: a bossa groove or a batacuda thumpathon. Either way, it gives lazy DJs huge amounts of style points (one copy sold to Paul Oakenfold! Another shipped to Dave Ralph!). The one thing I'm still unclear on is why the biggest names artists-- 4 Hero, Incognito, MJ Cole-- all bear Gilles Peterson's stamp of approval?

I'd like to suggest that the band's consistency and dependability, rather than launching them into riches beyond the dreams of avarice, have rendered the band and their work unfortunately ignorable. Record execs know they're not going to be paying for a Jazzanova mix that incites like "A Galaxy of Scars," the high-anxiety samba that opened the Third Eye Foundation's You Guys Kill Me. This is a real shame. Yet more annoyingly, you can hear nagging echoes of far greater mixes in Jazzanova's lesser sounds. During the mix of Liquid Lounge's (who?) "Complete Life," the vocalist is left to perform a passable "Relax"-era Holly Johnson "nya nya nyaah," for example.

Fittingly complementing these unimaginative reworks are the unimaginative track titles. Scanning the tracklist is akin to reading every sentence on a detention blackboard: "[name of remixee] Jazzanova Mix." Sure, this is functional-- it lets everyone know who's on the job. But where's the flair, the wit, the slightest amount of interest? You don't find Richard D James simply signing his work "The Aphex Twin Mix." Given how much of a chore remixing has become in recent years, I'm imagine that inventing a snappy title for your version is one of the few really fun parts. But Jazzanova, like the Cinematic Orchestra, take everything just a little too seriously. So, we must ask ourselves, is jazz-dance really quite the most tedious genre in music?

Not at all. Jeff Sharel's self-titled album floors with its delicately OvalProcess-esque take on jazz dance-afro beat fusion. And how about the special funky mess of Chet Baker's 1977 version of "Love for Sale" with Alphonso Johnson on a nether-hugging Moog? Or San Francisco's Luv N' Haight, who adoringly compile bags of jazz-dancy goodies that abound in irresistible exuberance? Clearly, the genre is more than sufficiently capable of delivering excitement in armfuls.

For Jazzanova, though, their melodic predictability is their selling-point. They've crammed their portfolio with stolid workouts and earnest pastiches. These are far from ideal qualities when it comes to an album. Any of these tracks inserted into a set would usher in a soothing ersatz Rio carnival vibe, but releasing it all in a block like this offers the band little credit. I could be apologetic and state that this was bound to occur, given the band's preferred method of referencing not only the source track, but also other tracks by the remixed artist. This, of course, is utter shit-- to appreciate superlative remixing skills you only have to consider what a stupendous transformation the Fat Cat roster pulled off when asked to tackle Emilana Torrini's lumpen Love in the Time of Science LP.

I'm caught. I want uplifting, challenging, complex, beard-free, fun, jazz-dance! I want to be captivated by their takes on art, life, and humanity! Yet, if I want to find these things out about Jazzanova-- what they can really do when released from remix pressure-- I'm left hunting for a three-song EP released in 1998, and their one-off, "Fedtime's Flight," from a year earlier. Needless to say, that shit just doesn't cut it. Hrrumph. Well, at least I'll always have Chet to fall back down on. I'm never left in doubt as to what motivates him.

-Paul Cooper