hEADaCHE- Fully Automated

Written by Matthew Johnson

Artist: hEADaCHE
CD Title: Fully Automated: The hEADaCHE Remixes
Label: Uncoiled Loops
Reviewer: Matthew Johnson
Date: 4/14/05

Producer hEADaCHE of the Detroit-based electronic project CEOXiME is also a prolific remix artist, and on this first collection shows off fifteen tracks of material reworked for other artists. There’s a definite propensity for drum ‘n’ bass here, Silvercord’s “Autopilot” and Diverje’s “Suspision” being particularly good examples, but the jungle influences also extend into the darker, more mechanical reworking of Collide’s trip-hop on “Wings of Steel.” Croc Shop’s “Generation” turns into a hard acid house epic, while the industrial rock shouting of Five Star Reject’s “Trainwreck” gets reworked as hard-hitting electro. Other tracks retain more of an industrial feel, for better or for worse. Endif’s “Ashes” keeps a scrap-metal vibe to its rhythms that serves the track well, but the old-school EBM of Noxious Emotion’s “Mystery of Life” is not only bland, it goes on for an almost interminable nine minutes. Even hEADaCHE’s prodigious abilities aren’t enough to save Bottomfeeder’s “Maybe Someday” from nu-metal bombast, but of course that reflects less on the remix artist than on the original material. The best stuff here mixes a more upbeat analog synthpop feel with darker rhythms. Flood Damage’s “Ovoid Vovoid” mixes coldwave angst with electronic beauty, while the remixed collaboration of Diverje and Soul Circuit on “Stronger” is a perfect blend of distorted but emotional singing, abstract rhythms, and programmed melody. To finish the disk out, this collection includes a new CEOXiME track, this time a cover of Radiohead’s “Exit Music (For a Film)” that imbues the original’s moping melancholy with a deeper sensuality by adding slow, fuzzed-out beats and cinematic female vocals. This CD works both as a compilation of industrial electronics and an introduction to hEADaCHE’s body of work, and hopefully its diverse collection of artists will introduce new fans to a talented producer they might not have otherwise discovered.

Go to https://www.ceoxime.com for more hEADaCHE news.