fugazi edits reprises the band's back catalogue in around half an hour

Chris Lawhorn's Fugazi Edits album is a 22-track blast of creative sound entirely constructed out of samples from Fugazi's (substantial) back catalogue. It seems as much a fond appreciation of the band's work as it does an artful reinterpretation and deconstruction of the songs it has at its source.

With track titles explicitly referring to Fugazi's songs - for example 'Sweet And Low - Fell, Destroyed - Cashout - Blueprint' - it's tempting initially to treat the music as a series of triggers, reminding the listener of songs they may not have heard for some time. Indeed, this alone makes for a successful album, as it creates the feeling of a tribute whilst retaining the exactly familiar sounds of Fugazi's sounds.

Deeper than that, though, is the inquisitive listener's urge to draw parallels between the Fugazi songs mentioned in Fugazi Edits track titles, or to constantly attempt to distinguish the source samples from their reconstructed second cousins. Wisely keeping individual tracks short - only a couple run longer than two minutes - Lawhorn has realised that in order to steer clear of turning out a joke album, or an art statement drawn out to unbearable lengths, brevity is the soul of wit. Fugazi Edits bears repeated listens by not trying too hard, and instead maintains a tightrope-like balance between dropping in enough recognition to provide comfort amongst the often chaotic cut-ups and noise-outs that are the result of meticulous editing.