Using the originals as skeletal outlines, "Vertical Mixes" simplifies and distilles 2003's "Vertical Theory". Creating textural atmospheric reductionist revisions or streamlined club mixes of the originals, "Vertical Mixes" is a brave remix album that captures and ensnares you.

Since 1996's "The Remix Wars", Haujobb has established a reputation as the remixers to seek out if you are a thoughtful artist wanting to expand your sound.
The inventive, genre-defying, provacative, melancholic and sometimes willfully difficult "Vertical Theory" had Haujobb incorporating their experience as remixers into their sound and song structure. Consequently the less complex and layered "Vertical Mixes" plays like the originals to "Vertical Theory's" remixes.
The first five tracks on "Vertical Mixes" are Haujobb without outside collaborators. Three remixes and two new originals that play like an album side (if you don't know ask your parents). Varying beats and samples but maintaining an overiding mood and atmosphere. The dub-like atmosphere gives the songs an illusion of being stark, when in actuality sounds and layers ebb and flow.
"Mind Crush" is the perfect example of this style. Cowbells, cymbal crashes, deep house beats and spoken monotone vocals all take turns intertwining with the atmospheric wash of synths. Overlapping and fading out, the song changes genres twice so subtly as to be imperceptible.
And that is the template for the the first five tracks on "Vertical Mixes".
Whether it's the 80's video game samples in the new track "Perpetual Motion" or the sonar blips in "Metric" (remix), everything is in service to the haunted shape-shifting atmosphere that is the unifying element of Haujobb's music without collaborators.
Things change with track six as collaborators are allowed to experiment with the Haujobb sound present on "Vertical Mixes". Both "S_ adow" and "Renegades of Noize" each get two remixes on the latter 2/3 of the disc. "Renegades of Noize" gets two great club overhauls. Haujobb vs. This Morn Omina's "We are the Renegades of Noize" is a power body techno version and the Asche remix is a dirty crunchy noise remix that wouldn't sound out of place on an Ant-Zen compilation.
"S_adow" is given a techno thumper beat that fades out into "S_adow" beautiful piano line in Shok's Scrambled Egg mix, while the Backlash remix looks back to earlier technology to deliver a retro-future sound. All suitable for the dancefloor while showing the versatility of the source material.
The other remixes on "Vertical Mixes" separate the elements of the Haujobb sound and isolat ethem in their own remix. Seabound deliver an uncharacteristically sparse and lo-tech remix of "Platform" that suggests the electronica/IDM scene before the imploded in the late nineties. Glis take "Slide" and deliver it up as if it was a dark electro track missing from the "Endzeit Bunker" compilation.
"The Noise Institute" (1994 mix by Iscoloscope) stays true to it's title. Delivering a big techno sound with house flourishes, taking us back to the simpler, less crowded dance scene of 1994.
"Metric (hecq reemiqs)" is the remix most complimentary to the first five tracks on "Vertical Mixes". An echoing drum beat with an ambient sound that is less haunting and suggests an Enoesque Haujobb. A brillant remix that is an essential listen and an obvious highlight.
As diverse as "Vertical Mixes" is, it is remarkably cohesive.
The divirgent sounds suggested by each song are all parts of the overall Haujobb sound of "Vertical Theory". The adventurous spirit and eclectic delivery lives up to Haujobb's description for "Vertical Theory". "A little dance, a little, EBM, a little industrial, a little ambient, and a little dance but with that Haujobb 'feel'".
Exactly.


Tracklist
Mind Crush
Renegades Of Noize (remix)
Perpetual Motion
Metric (remix)
Platform (remix)
haujobb vs. this morn omina/ we are the renegades of noize
Slide (Glis mix)
Platform (Seabound remix)
Metric (Hecq reemiqs)
Renegades Of Noize (Asche remix)
S_adow (Backlash remix)
S_adow (Shok's Scrambled Egg mix)
The Noise Institute (1994 mix by Iscoloscope)