Auteurs, The Vs µ-Ziq - The Auteurs Vs µ-Ziq

The story with this release, was that during the period of time that this came out, commercial record labels had finally realized the marketing potential of hiring big name DJs to do remixes of artists signed to their label. Of course, DJs got paid a lot by these labels just to remix another artist's work, but a lot of the time the DJs were bored and uninspired by these artists.

Whereas back a few years earlier, a DJ might have done a remix of an artist they really liked or of an artist that had inspired them (a compliment not unlike that of a rock band "covering" another band), now there were all of these DJs being paid a lot of money to remix crap that they hated by artists that were, obviously, just being hyped-up by their labels.

This CD happened after one such label, which was in the process of trying to generate hype for The Auteurs, decided to hire µ-Ziq to remix tracks from The Auteurs' album "Now I'm A Cowboy". Michael Paradinas (µ-Ziq) didn't like the album at all, was bored with it and just decided to make original music and throw samples in from the other album here and there. The result was, essentially, a µ-Ziq album with cuts of vocals and maybe a guitar-line from The Auteurs' album here and there throughout the mix, and had an overall dark, abrasive, drone feel, showcasing Michael Paradinas' boredom with the material loud and clear.

The label wasn't sure what to think when they came to pick up the finished product and listened to it. I'm sure they were dismayed, hoping for something that would show off a little more of The Auteurs songwriting, which had been completely dissolved with the remixing. They paid Michael and sold the album none-the-less (probably due to contract), and as far as I can tell, a lot of people love it... except maybe those record executives and The Auteurs.

In turn, this CD was one of the first examples of an anti-remix album, or versus album (meaning, loosely, one artist "against" another), and also went on to inspire other remix albums, such as Aphex Twin's equally seminal "26 Mixes For Cash" - and by the time that had come out, record companies were already specifically looking for and buying remixes from DJs that sounded nothing like the original artists.