I don’t consider it a weakness I haven’t heard the original disc that led to this remix album. The fact these remixes form an album strong enough to stand on its own speaks volumes.
Waltz for Koop provides an amalgamation of jazz, dance, funk, even elements of lounge, and while it’d be tempting to lump it into the acid-jazz crowd, it’s much better than that would imply. The skill with which this Swedish duo merges varying genres is almost astounding: flamenco guitars mix with electronic beats just before an improvisational sax solo. Trip hop vocals ride ultra-fast bongos.
It’s no surprise this disc is garnering international attention.
I’m not sure how much credit belongs to Koop and how much to the remixers, but given the uniform quality, the source material must be pretty damn strong.