On Historial de Caídas Remixes some of South America’s finest dance and electronic artists remix the debut album of El Sueño de la Casa Propia.

The original album was a dense work with no shortage of ideas. In fact, if you did want to shoot any criticism at it, it would be that at times there was simply too much going on at any one point for the brain to truly comprehend.

It shouldn’t be too surprising then that many of the most effective remixes here succeed by finding a simpler way of evoking the ideas in the originals. “En Mangas de Camisa”, remixed by De Janeiros, is a perfect example. Frenetic beats are replaced by swoons, deep bass and indecipherable vocals, ending with something not too far from the shimmering bliss of some of Underworld’s work. Pepepe pull a similar trick, turning the rough, fiery beats of “Puertas Adentro” into something more rotund, even if they then proceed to break-up the structure, adding glitches and broken loops.

The original Historial de Caídas had a dry, bright sound, something that could irritate some people, but it did make the album stand-out, and ensured that it had it’s own unique character. Many of the remixes try to resolve the overly-dry sound by adding plenty of reverb. This is a big feature of Algodón Egipcio’s own songs (as on his recent, brilliant debut album) and it’s something that he adds to “Cortina de Humo” pushing the original’s ragged rhythm into swirls of melody and percussion.

Other times, such as Ricardo Tobar’s reworking of “A La Velocidad del Amor” and deMentira’s “En la Medida de lo Posible” the results just aren’t quite as successful. For some resaon Tobar decides to take his song down a dark corridor, taking all the light out of the original, and leaving it for dead most likely. deMentiras are a little more successful, their song has plenty of joy, rounds off a few edges of the original and keeps things building through addition of new loops, but one listen to the original and you’re reminded how visionary some of these tracks were in their original incantations.

This is really the story of this compilation. Some songs excel, some songs suffer, but as a reminder of how good Historial de Caídas is, it is a perfect record. Plus, Sr. Amable’s version of “Un Paso al Costado” could be the pop hit of the summer in a more-sane world.

Historial de Caídas Remixes, as well as El Sueño de la Casa Propia‘s original Historial de Caídas, are released by Pueblo Nuevo.

Historial de Caídas Remixes can be downloaded for free from the Internet Archive.

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