Forgive me if this has been covered (I don't remember it being mentioned). All the tracks of Music Complete remixed by a Frenchman based in Manchester. The samples on Amazon were intriguing enough for me to make the purchase.

Yes I think it’s the remix album in this thread from 2016

http://forums.neworderonline.co...sts&t=3534#post24260

Indeed it is.

I do vaguely recall that thread now but I didn't bother to listen to the tracks at the time.

Sounds interesting. I bought the extended double CD cos it was cheap, but gave up after Restless. It was beyond boring and just repeated bits over and over. Sub-Razormaid.

Yes, I bought one of his "limited edition" Music Remixed CDrs at the time. I like the Tutti Frutti remix (Synthetic Fun) which has (literally) snappy use of drum machine. It's better than some of the commercial mixes.

I can't recall the rest of the mixes making much of an impact. Not to say they're not any good, I was just drowning in electronic music to listen to at the time. Perhaps a revisit is in order.

His Redesigns from 2011 were pretty good. He managed to make a Dire Straits track listenable, which deserves some credit.

From what I understand he's a fan and on these forums under a different name so... "Hi!"

Regarding Complete Music , I understand what you mean about the version of Restless. It sounds a bit tedious before the track even gets going (also my only complaint regarding the otherwise excellent Nothing but a Fool, regardless of the mix). I much prefer the Extended 12" Mix of Restless. It also ups the ratio of music-to-vocals (generally a plus on virtually ANY New Order track) but gets going right away.

The CM mixes of Singularity and Plastic are absolutely much better than the stand Music Complete versions. Especially Plastic, as it's not just extended instrumentally, but rearranged (with the awkward bit tacked on at the end instead).

Tutti Frutti isn't really improved upon. It's just different (but are there not more lyrics? Not always a plus, as mentioned above).

People on the High Line, for me is also just different, not better. Extended and focused on synths more than the guitars. There's not really an Improvement on Stray Dog, either. Just different synth flavours.

Academic is way too long. In theory, a more synthy makeover seems the obvious choice when remixing a track like that. But it reminds me of all those bands you hear about that supposedly "sound" like New Order, but don't really get it right.

The mixes (the original download has a different mix to that of the CD release) of Nothing but a Fool are good, but take away good elements as much as they add. And the track was long enough already.

Unlearn this Hatred is a big improvement for me. I'm not keen on the isolation of the techno riff towards the start, but every other change is welcome. I love the ending with Chappy's bass part playing out and the final panning of the kick drum.

The Game also is improved on (music-to-vocals ratio, again a huge factor), turning a track I was lukewarm on into a worthwhile (if not unskippable) track.

Superheated is a weird one. I generally prefer the Extended mix from the download, but hate that the "You want your life back..." line is repeated. The remix on the CD version is odd because it amps up the synths, yet also reveals more guitar bits. Both mixes are a bit long so I generally stick with the original. Overall the song struck me (like the mix of Academic) as something the uninitiated think "sounds" like New Order. Slap some bouncy synths on. Job done. I had always assumed that the credits to Brandon Flowers were not just for additional lyrics, but for the somewhat generic, Hi-NRG style of the song. Was genuinely surprised when Stephen said it was Bernard's doing on the recent Listening Party. But, in case you never get that far into the Fritz von Runte mixes, his version of Superheated is a mellow, piano version. It sounds like it would be a shit idea but it's great!

Edited by user 27 December 2020 15:06:22(UTC)  | Reason: typo

I reached out to him on Twitter about the "Bonus tracks" mentioned in the original thread. While thanking me for the purchase in a public reply, he has yet to respond to my DM on how to acquire them. Can someone fill us in on what they are/were?

The "STEMS"® releases (that you could buy) of the Music Complete tracks were 4 "parts" of each song. But of course the tracks were actually made up of more than 4 parts in the studio. I'm pretty sure Fritz was given something more eh, "complete" than 4-track parts, and I'm pretty sure Stephen Morris was involved in that. If Fritz is reading this, he is of course welcome to comment...

Sorry for the minor derail but since it came up: I always thought Complete Music was identical to the extended mixes as sold in the limited box with the exception of two tracks (forget which), which were described as not being good enough by NO so they were redone.

That stuck in my mind because I felt it was a bait and switch: buy the limited box, get exclusive remixes; then some months later the majority of those are available on CM (which was priced really reasonably) except they now describe two of the deluxe limited things as sub-par...

Yep - this was my breaking point as well.
I struggled to keep up my enthusiasm for the band following all those pretty dreadful remixes (especially of RIAD).

Thankfully, my interest returned.

I still hate those bloody Sly & Robbie remixes though.

Edited by user 28 December 2020 03:47:23(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified