PIGFACE / Washingmachine Mouth (1993)

You'll find WM classed as an album, E.P. or even a maxi-single, depending on where you shop, but whatever the truth, clocking in at almost 45 minutes means it doesn't exactly skimp on content, even if it is mostly just 'dicked around' remixes of songs from Fook (1992). After the intensity of that album, the surprise of quieter tracks that are distant, hypnotic cousins of something that might be Ambient Dub was a big surprise; but surprise is what Pigface did best in those days. It's difficult to categorise. It even confuses some CD players; I'm not even kidding.

Songs of Note: Satellite (Needle in the Groove); Prepare to Die (Go! Go! Go!)

3 garden varieties with evil intent out of 5

NINE INCH NAILS / Fixed (1992)

I've used Fixed to clear a room. I'm not kidding. I also love it, so will be as biased as I can while reviewing it. It contains tracks from the Broken E.P. (1992) remixed by such luminaries as Coil, Butch Vig, and J. G. Thirlwell; all of whom do their best to hide something interesting inside something chaotic.
The first half is recognisable as music, but the latter half goes off the rails and offers up some harsh fragments (and Bob Flanagan having his bits tortured) that require repeated exposure to find any kind of rhythm in.
Far from being a misnomer, Fixed puts right the feelings that inspired Broken because it's born from the freedom to do what the artist wants.

Songs of Note: Gave Up; Wish

4 smashed pieces out of 5

JARBOE | TELECOGNAC ‎/ Over (2000)

Telecognac (Chris Rosenau and Jon Mueller) took a single Jarboe track and made a lazy release from it. It's classed as an album, but has just three tracks totalling 35 mins. They chopped most of Jarboe's vocals into small, unintelligible chunks and then dropped them into a toolbox of experimental awkwardness that relies heavily on juxtaposition and percussion to fill out the running time.
It only gels into something engaging about fifty percent of the time. The other fifty percent is mostly cold, listless and irritating.

Songs of Note: Over 1; Over 2

2 gold idols out of 5

PIGFACE Vs DJ Linux / Dubhead (2004)

A remix album featuring songs from the Easy Listening for Difficult Fuckheads (2003) album in various states of deconstruction. Track titles are changed so you can't tell until you pop it in the player what the hell you're getting.
It's not all Dub like the title suggests, and in typical Pigface style it's not all good either. There's a stigma of laziness attached to remix albums that Dubhead doesn't completely shed, but it's Pigface, so we lap it up anyhow.
Google tells me that DJ Linux is Chris Haskett (ex- Rollins Band guitarist).

Songs of Note: Gospel of Thomas Dub; Dub Your Own Business

3 crumbs on the table out of 5

NINE INCH NAILS / Year Zero Remixed (2007)

Or Y34RZ3R0R3M1X3D, if you prefer the leet-ness, is, unsurprisingly, a collection of remixed tracks from the Year Zero album that was released just seven months prior. It fulfilled contractual commitments that NIN had to Interscope Records. They wanted another album and they got it. Trent gave them a turd. If I hated my record label, I'd probably want to do the same, but that doesn't make me cringe any less when hearing it. It offers an even less enjoyable listening experience than the original album, and lacks any kind of cohesive flow.

Songs of Note: The Great Destroyer (remixed by Modwheelmood); Another Version of the Truth (remixed by Kronos Quartet & Enrique Gonzalez Müller)

1 shiny beer mat out of 5

GODFLESH / Love and Hate in Dub (1997)

Love and Hate in Dub is considered an E.P., but with 12 tracks and a running time of 71 minutes, I'd call it an album. Either way, it's a collection of remixed tracks from the similarly named Songs of Love and Hate (1996). It deconstructs and rebuilds them as ambient, dub, drum 'n bass, and even breakbeat versions. Some are much more interesting than their source, while others are meandering and go on far too long. It divided fans, and I've yet to meet anyone that likes all of it.

Songs of Note: Wake (Break Mix); Frail (Now Broken)

3 angels by your side out of 5

PANTALEIMON / Heart of the Sun (2008)

Pantaleimon blend simple, acoustic Folk melodies with a fragile, dreamlike, Lynchian drone. It's the sound dew makes as it drips from graveyard flower petals. Or, if you don't like this kind of thing, you can call it boring hippy music.
It's slightly haunting in places, but Andria Degens' voice, the warm harp, piano, and cello keep it from becoming too dark.
Heart of the Sun is a "remixed and realised" version of the Mercy Oceans (2007) album, by a number of guest artists. It also adds four new tracks (5, 8, 10 and 14).

Songs of Note: At Dawn (Vogel); All the Birds (Melting Canvas)

3 remixed Idyls out of 5

NINE INCH NAILS / Further Down the Spiral (1995)

FDtS is a remix album featuring songs from The Downward Spiral (1994) in various guises and states of deconstruction. Some are chaotic, resembling the original with extra layers of electronic distortion and intensity, while others get wedded to dance beats that aren't as lazy or awful as it sounds in words. If you're familiar with TDS, then you'll be picking out recognisable moments, and engaging or scratching your head at new ones. It's a hypnotic deluge of fractured emotions that's impossible for me to define accurately.
The US version has a number of different tracks than the rest of the world, and vice versa. I own both but prefer the non-US version.

Songs of Note: Piggy (Nothing Can Stop Me Now); Hurt (Live)

3½ experiments in self-destruction out of 5