Music Remixed by Fritz von Runte

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.

...and then I find this.

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

http://forums.neworderonline.com/default.aspx?g=posts&t=3534#post24260

What do you think of it? The remixer is certainly good at self promotion

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

http://forums.neworderonline.com/default.aspx?g=posts&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.

Jonathan wrote: What do you think of it? The remixer is certainly good at self promotion

I've only listened to it once so far. But first impressions of Restless was positive. Academic is very interesting as it brings to mind the spacey feel of The Orb. Unlearn this Hatred is given a sparse feel that brings to mind early nineties Cabaret Voltaire (which I like) and some may find that the versions of Stray Dog and Superheated are preferable to the LP versions.

I wasn't going to post impressions right away as I wanted to give it a few more spins first, but you asked...

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.

Vaguely recall giving it a couple of plays but it didn’t do much for me. Still have it though on my laptop so maybe will give it another try.

NotAMod wrote: . He managed to make a Dire Straits track listenable,"

https://youtu.be/4vPUeB2ZqQU I have to be honest and say I'm not an expert on any remix projects post Republic. After the RIAD and Rest Of experience...

Michael Monkhouse wrote: 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.

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!

NotAMod wrote: 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!"

While not expressly admitting it, petezarustica appears to be his nom de plume.

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?

NotAMod wrote: No idea what the bonus tracks were. I'm only familiar with what was on the CDr.

I don't think it's a surprise the "Stems" for Complete Music were released in mid-2016 then this project appeared a few months later.

The Stem files allow you to extract the multitracks and make your own mixes. About as racy as I got was to create a few instrumentals.

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...

Thanks Andy. I assumed Restless was typical but i'll give it another go. What a great cover https://open.spotify.com/show/0LiuICztfAz2KgafbsJomT

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...

Jonathan wrote: 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...

Yes the tracks on Complete Music are the same as on the 12” vinyls that were in the Music Complete deluxe box. The Complete Music CD was released in May 2016 and also around that time new versions of the extended mixes of Nothing But A Fool and Superheated were released digitally ( free to those who had bought the deluxe box). So there was Nothing But A Fool extended mix 2 and Superheated extended mix 2. In my opinion I didnt find them better or worse than the original extended mixes of NBAF and Superheated, just different.

Edit:Nope, I got that wrong! Just checked and the extended mixes of NBAF and Superheated on Complete Music are the second mixes. Extended mix 2 of both of those. The original extended mixes of those 2 are exclusive to the deluxe box.Sorry for the confusion. The Complete Music CD also came with a download code for Music Complete so yeah it was quite a good deal. I didn’t have to buy the Complete Music CD as I had all the mixes anyway but bought it to, um, complete everything.

Think I’m in a minority who finds the original version of Plastic much better than the extended mix.

Michael Monkhouse wrote: After the RIAD and Rest Of experience...

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.

Andy wrote: 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?

He replied to the DM's. Doesn't really clear anything up, though:

"Where did you see the bonus tracks? What are you referring to?"

I mentioned the previous thread.

"Not sure Andy. Some of the mixes had alternate versions and the one I did with Kris Weston had to be edited for the CD. Don't remember having bonus tracks tho."

We also discussed his new releases but at no point did he admit he was "petezaustica". Perhaps Kris Weston (The Orb, Andrew Weatherall, etc) was the poster...