Sarah Mc Lachlan - Bloom (Remix Album) (2005)

Bloom begins with Junkie XL's terrific remix of the Afterglow track "World on Fire." He trashes the hopeful chording of the original nearly completely, instead floating Sarah McLachlan's vocals over a taut guitar line for an addictive mixture of tension and atmosphere. Book it: this track will resurface as the setup music for a wirework shootout in some Matrix-style film of the very near future. Unfortunately the set is flawed from there on out. It has some good ideas but often doesn't develop them, and takes the generic trance route much too willingly. It's true that McLachlan's breathy, warmly ethereal style is a great overlay for trance and progressive house productions. But some of Bloom's remixers rely on the broadest of stylistic clichés in their application of her voice. "Vox," a track from McLachlan's 1989 debut, Touch, is an interesting choice for Bloom. But Tom Middleton wastes it with a bouncing mechanistic template that's so transparent it might as well be DJ Sammy. Hyper doesn't fare any better with the Afterglow track "Stupid," and former hit single "Fallen" is robbed of its homespun grace by Gabriel & Dresden. A bit of the song's melody remains, but it's stretched like an overworked twist-tie across canned percussive ticks and the stale warble of pulsing trance synths. Unlike XL's take on "Fire," these tracks rob McLachlan of her vitality, reducing her to a faceless trance diva. There's a similar problem with will.i.am's "Just Like Me," where McLachlan is the disembodied chorus voice for what's essentially a passably entertaining Black Eyed Peas song. (The Harry Chapin-copped chorus goes nowhere, and DMC is a non-factor.) Fortunately Bloom has some highlights. Sly & Robbie come through with their take on "Train Wreck," keeping the original's pace but adding bright keyboard stabs and a burbling bassline for a subtle pop/R&B feel. Junior Boys' "Fumbling Toward Ecstasy" also builds a promising, vaguely threatening sort of atmosphere, similar to the feel McLachlan gave some of the tracks on that record, and Talvin Singh adds tasteful tabla drums and sitars to the gentle "Answer." Ultimately Bloom is about as adventurous as its artwork, which by not featuring McLachlan herself suggests the average forgettable trance or downtempo comp. But at least it has its moments, and completist fans will probably want these remixes in their collections.