This is a dream of an EP. More than merely a generous maxi-single for one of 2001's finest pop songs (although it is that), this release forms a sort of microcosm of gentler cutting-edge electronic and indie pop sounds circa the beginning of the millennium. The track list alone makes for a striking document: first of all you've got
Jimmy Tamborello's fellow San Franciscan
Safety Scissors with a microhouse/glitch-hop remix featuring new vocals recorded by
Erlend Øye, then just dipping his toe into electronic waters following the success of
Kings of Convenience's hushed folk-pop debut. Following that are a trio of mixes from highly esteemed Germans:
Barbara Morgenstern, who adds her own vocals to
Ben Gibbard's in a moody, organ-led electro-pop reworking, Kompakt's
Superpitcher, with a masterful minimal techno take, and
Lali Puna, representing Morr Music with a dreamy instrumental version. And of course, there's the original version of the song, easily the highlight of
Dntel's terrific
Life Is Full of Possibilities, as well as the initial fruit of the collaboration between
Tamborello and
Gibbard which later blossomed into
the Postal Service. It's a heartbreakingly gorgeous marriage of song and sound, with wispy melody and wistful, dreamlike narrative -- evidently inspired by an actual dream
Gibbard had about
Cat Power and
the Lemonheads'
Evan Dando -- wedded to a blissful bed of beats and synths swathed in hazy sheets of distortion. If the remixers here generally choose not to stray particularly far from the original template, it's hard to fault them for that, and the song is easily strong enough to stand up to a half-hour's worth of gentle reimagining. A perfectly fine, if inessential, new vocal
Dntel piece, "Your Hill," rounds out the disc. ~ K. Ross Hoffman, All Music Guide