By Keith Walsh
When it comes to music from U.S. based post punkers Media Jeweler, you can expect innovation. Even their newly released remix album, Sublime Reworks, a collection of tracks derived from 2021’s The Sublime Sculpture Of Being Alive, reaches exciting new levels of aural excitement. It’s an overwhelmingly electronic album, a departure from the original sounds of Media Jeweler, which are heavy on guitars, bass, drums, and Sam Farzin’s powerful baritone vocals.
I spoke with Farzin, the leader of Media Jeweler—but first some analysis:
I’ve compared the new album and its antecedent track by track. To keep it short: The Zendeh Zendeh remix of “Tightrope” is a quirky mix with electronic blips and slices of vox, where the original tune was jangly, rhythmic and guitar-based. The Laserbulb Remix of “3D Printer” is an echoey, dreamy synth-based, sometimes disco thing, where the original was bouncy and poppy with Africa adjacent guitar figures.
The Advanced Shapes Remix of “Lightbulb” features almost Devo style synths with glitch references, whereas the original was agitated and guitar based. The remix of “Middle Ages” by my faves Pregnant takes the dark and aggro original into new territory with loops and odd meters. “3D Printer” by XMinus 1 is filled with beats sounding like they’re from the legendary Roland TR-808. It’s very strange. Graham Ulicny’s remix of “Hell” is quirky and not as dark as I imagine hell to be though. It features a strong electronic drum beat, slight synth bass and great quirky synth sounds. Style Munson’s Peace and Luck Remix of “Smile” is wonderfully folky, with chopstick percussion, hurdy gurdy sounds, and it skips the long introduction, starting instead with Sam Farzin’s vox. The remix of “Limbo” called the “Privacy Settings’ Flubber Sculpture Remix” is almost in Buddha Lounge territory, with lots of watery sounds, electronic beats, and a chill vibe, whereas the original is trippy and dark. Sublime Reworks is a cool sounding set on its own and a suitable companion piece to the original album.
Now for the interview with Farzin:
PopularCultureBeat: The remixes are surprisingly electronic. What is the philosophy behind compiling the new remixes, and how did it come about?
Sam Farzin: We all love a lot of electronic music. I think guitar rock material presents a novel prompt for the reworker; all the timbres and tones can be pushed and pulled into a completely different sonic palette. I had mentally compiled a list of friends and put out a call. We have the good fortune that some were up for the task.
PopularCultureBeat: Were you expecting such radical changes to your work?
Sam Farzin: I was hoping for it! I love collage as an approach. The rearrangement of an understood whole into something new is an exciting conversation.
PopularCultureBeat: What’s around the corner for Media Jeweler?
Sam Farzin: Media Jeweler, still bicontinental, is mostly at rest. We have a show in LA at Zebulon on 4/12 followed by a 10 day tour in Japan. We last visited in 2018.
Media Jeweler .com
Media Jeweler At Bandcamp
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