Cold, austere darkwave electronica gets an injection of human soul with the music of Attrition. Their programmed sounds vary from urgent, tight patterns to subtler, almost ambient, rhythms. Into this they weave orchestration (largely absent in this remix edition) and the warmth of the human voice. Medieval, plainsong melodies are the inspiration to Attrition’s vocal facet. On “Cold Genius (Polaxe Remix)” they go for the real thing, including the work of baroque English composer Henry Purcell. Their exquisite juxtaposition has the possibility of being majestic at times. Here that highpoint found on all Attrition albums is the vaguely Native American “White Men Talk (Morbus Kitahara Remix).” The Hand That Feeds the Remixes looks back on two decades of cross-century composition. – Tom Schulte
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