Well you cannot kill what’s already dead and Ministry are supposedly just that, not that it is stopping the albums from piling up. After ‘The Last Sucker’ we have had a cover album and a live album and now we have a remix album with a difference, this one is in dub! It might not be the first example of its kind, indeed many lovers of Ministry will no doubt also remember Godflesh putting their ‘Songs Of Love And Hate’ through the dub wringer and that also was a damn fine album presenting a heady mix of phat beats and juddering rhythms. Uncle Al is no stranger to Remixxxing things either, his 13th Planet label has recently seen Prong’s ‘Power Of The Damager’ damaged beyond all recognition and just as I write this the remix album for Revolting Cocks last album has dropped in on a ‘Sex O Mixxx O’ edition which you will be able to read about next month. Is there any need for all this or is it just a blatant cash cow taking the fans for every last $ Ministry can, is the question you may well ask?
Well as far as The Last Dubber is concerned it is a resounding success. These are no simple remixes but ones that have taken the already damn fine songs and completely breathed new life into them, warped them into new bea(s)ts like a mad Dr Moreau in his lab. Most of the tracks have been mixed up by Clayton Workbeck of RevCo and he starts us off with Let’s Go (La Fin Du Monde Mix) one of the best tracks on the album. I have to admit I have not got the full effect of this listening to it on my PC speakers (the power of the downloaded MP3 review copies being somewhat feeble) and the bass heavy a$$ault here is lost a bit. Al’s voice booms behind a huge spliffed up smoky deluge which hits you like a particularly heavy bong session as it takes a song that is instantly recognisable and twists it into other unheard of realms of reality and insanity, as the lyrics themselves succinctly put it. Thinking about it, the marketing machine could have milked out some more dosh here by releasing these 12 tracks on special 3x 12” vinyl editions, this would probably sound even better belted out on a turntable.
The other thing that should be mentioned here is that this is not a lazy remix album with stacks of mixes of the same song. There are repeats of ‘Let’s Go’ and ‘Last Sucker’ at the end but not until the entire ‘Last Sucker’ album is treated to an overhaul in its original running order. I really like the clicky backward masking of ‘Life is Good (Neuroplasticity Mix)’ it is pure Bauhaus basically, another band who liked bringing subtle sounds of dub into their fantastical Gothic world. This album is a great one for the budding DJ too it should have any room pumped full of dancing bodies. Things flutter at you like a swarm of bats on ‘The Dick Song (Straight Outta Lincoln Mix),’ guitars shudder up and down as they rape musical scales and voices of Dubya and possibly even Satan himself hit you from every angle. I could be very un-pc here and suggest reinstating Guantanamo and playing this as a form of musical torture, terrorists would confess to anything after they have stopped pooing themselves to this bitch!
Talk about rubbing you up the wrong way ‘No Glory (Sandpaper Condom Mix)’ has an itchy, red-raw scratching sound about it which should have any mans eyes watering. Bubbles pop all around and there are some great sound effects coming out of ‘Death & Destruction (A Vote of Non-Confidence Mix)’ it actually does the job of making me feel stoned just listening to it. ‘End Of Days Part 1 (One Less Sparrow Mix)’ sounds like it is spring loaded and it bounces all over you like Zebedee on acid, whereas ‘End Of Days Part 2 (Extreme Mayan Makeover Mix)’ has futuristic whooshes and pulses and big female choral parts and sounds like a Hollywood blockbuster. As mentioned after the album itself there is a trance heavy ‘Let’s Go (Dawn of Oblivion Mix)’ processed by Killing Joke and Ministry collaborator John Bechdel as well as a DJ Hardware mix of ‘The Last Sucker’ which was not on my promo.
I quite often say things like “this is a perfect time to start listening to xyz band if you have never heard them before.” I wont do that here though but will sign off with the words “you missed the boat and it was a bastard big one sucker”. Speaking of signing off do us a favour and fuck off and retire this band like you promised Al, you piss stained disreputable pensioner!
http://www.thirteenthplanet.com/ministry
http://www.myspace.com/ministrymusic
