I've been an admirer of Chemlab's work for several years now. My first experience was with the 1990 Ten Ton Pressure ep when I worked as a dj in college radio. I've explored each album in chronological order of release: Burnout at the Hydrogen Bar was an industrial rock opus, East Side Militia weilded an intricate machine rock fury. I've been listening, analyzing and rocking to and fro, right up to 2004's Oxidizer, Chemlab's heralding return to the future rock game.

Having stated that, I wasn't very interested in a Chemlab remix album. All too often with remix discs, you get too much of a predictable dance/ebm flavour, or something so metaphysical and esoteric that it leaves you wilted and bored inside your headphones. Monumental stacks of KMFDM singles bring to mind the former, Nine Inch Nails' Further Down the Spiral an experience in the latter. While I found a number of moments and segments of lyrics fresh and interesting on Oxidizer, it wasn't a record I've spent a lot of time listening to. The thought had entered my mind that the material could easily be lessened by loose, meandering interpretations.

I've been digesting this record for a solid month now, letting each new interpretation sink deeply into my raw eardrums. Rock Whore Vs. Dance Floor is a alluring blend of moods, nocturnal vibrations and unique beatscapes. Each remix retains a distinct identity from any other version featured on this disc itself, or to the original on Oxidizer. Some tracks, particularly Cubanate's remix of "White Room," flaunt Jared's bare, naked voice in a bizarre parallel to the stripped down and completely rewired approach to the reconstructed music. Other tracks, like Terrofakt's version of "Binary Nation" completely redefine the song altogether and improve upon the original greatly.

And that's what I enjoy most with this disc - every single remix is an astonishing enhancement of the original. 16 Volt offers an interesting version of "Binary Nation" as well, giving us a beautifully crafted piece that resembles little to nothing of 16 Volt or Chemlab. A lot of risks have been taken with the development of this record, with overall experimentation and the stretching of the machine rock/industrial envelopes reaching a climax.

At this point, I could be spinning this record for another month and still not know exactly how to describe it, or even what I think about it. It grows on me continually - reenergizing my appreciation for Oxidizer while at the same time showing me what a more daring record Oxidizer could have been with more of these artist's involved. The intitial concept of releasing this record as a double disc with twice as many tracks would have been outstanding - I hold Martin Atkins of Invisible Records personally responsible for stunting the growth of what this record could have really achieved. A very rare remix experience.

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