Disco de La Roux: “La Roux”

The electronic synth duo of Elly Jackson and Ben Langmaid returns to the music scene with La Roux: Gold Edition. This collection of B-sides, live performances, and remixes is a standby for their new album, currently in production. Here's my track-by-track overview of the hold-over release:

In for the Kill (Remix feat. Kanye West) - An awesome collaboration between La Roux and Mr. West that takes hip-hop to a whole new level. Nice beats and addition of effects create this vintage sounding piece.

Finally My Saviour - A B-side consisting of electronic synth goodness. If you are familiar with the group, it sounds like a sonic fusion of In for the Kill and Growing Pains. A seamless addition to their debut album.

Under My Thumb - Rolling Stones cover. Elly places an electronic vibe over her voice as she sings through the track effortlessly and beautifully. This was originally found on the Sidetracked UK-exclusive compilation, but as a DJ edit that was used to fade the tracks together as one mix. Good to have this track in it's original format!

I'm Not Your Toy (Jack Beats Remix) - A repetitive remix of I'm not Your Toy. The electronic beats get tiresome after awhile, but this release needed a good remix and Jack Beats was the best offering out of the three on the UK exclusive 3-track I'm Not Your Toy EP.

In for the Kill (Skream's Let's Get Ravey Remix) - Already owned from the In for the Kill Remixes EP. It sounds like a singular toned backtrack, but fits perfectly with the vocals in such a way that it cannot be explained. The last minute is filled with beats. I replaced it with Finally (feat. La Roux) off of Skream's

album. Very tribal-sounding with the drums, but very tranquill and a lovely remix of Finally My Saviour.

Quicksand (Boy 8-Bit Remix) - A reggae remix of Quicksand with pounding bass best heard through high-performance headphones or speakers.

Bulletproof (Zinc Remix) - Very repetitive dubstep remix. Previously released on the Bulletproof Remix EP. I replaced it with Bulletproof (Live at Shepherds Bush) found on The Gold EP.

Tigerlily (Demo Version) - The original, much more raw version of Tigerlily. Very nice addition to this release.

Bulletproof (Intimate Session at Abbey Road) - An acoustic version of Bulletproof with piano in the background and live vocals. I love this track and the raw talent that is put forth in Elly's vocals.

In for the Kill (Vevo Lounge Version) - Not my favorite performance. Elly's voice grates on my nerves here, but it's still nice to hear another acoustic session.

I also suggest adding this to the original album in your digital library for the true Gold Edition experience. This is La Roux and they are here to stay in my music library for years to come.

La Roux (Gold Edition) wouldn't be the album someone would want to buy if they wanted to hear La Roux for the first time. Basically the whole album is remixes, b-sides, and a couple songs that didn't make it to the album. If you're a first time La Roux listener, I would recommend La Roux's self-titled album. There you can really get a feel for the sound of La Roux. However, if you are an extreme La Roux fan, like me, you will want this CD.

I personally don't feel that La Roux and Kanye West mix well, but the 'In For The Kill' remix is none the less a good remix. 'Under My Thumb' and 'Finally My Saviour' are both great songs. I love this version of 'Under My Thumb' as the one on Sidetracked was mixed with the track before it, and was a bit faster. This version does not have excess sound from another song, and has a slower yet rhythmic beat. 'Finally My Saviour' is a song that was a bonus track in the UK, but never made it here in the US, until now. The lyrics are very driven and the beats are complete with the great La Roux synths are fantastic. After these tracks, there are mostly remixes, as well as a demo version of 'Tigerlily', an acoustic version of 'Bulletproof' and a lounge version of 'In For The Kill'.

Personally, I love getting physical versions of albums. I love the physical version of this album, it includes more pictures than "La Roux" does, and does not feel cheap, even though it is manufactured on demand. I know that people previously said that the track names are not recognized in music software, but for me on iTunes, it was fine, and all names were recognized.

All in all, if you are a dedicated La Roux fan, I feel you will thoroughly enjoy this album. If you're a new fan or listener, I wouldn't recommend this, rather I would point you in the direction of the album "La Roux".

As I said in the title, this is a pretty solid collection of remixes. If you liked the self titled album La Roux then youll undoubtedly enjoy this collection. On the other hand, I bought it when it was $7.50 and felt that was a pretty good price for it. I would consider it more of a single than an album because too many of the tracks are just remixes of the same song. If youve heard the album then you know what to expect from this release as far as the sound goes, but it definitely has a more "club oriented" sound too it; more bass, more loops, more repetitive sounds. On downside to something exclusive like this: When I ripped it to my pc using Zune it didnt have any info to pull, no track list or titles, no album art. Im really OCD about my collections so Im going to have to manually upload the art, and I already had to type in the song titles so they wouldnt all be "unknown song 1" "unknown album" "unknown artist".