The Paradise Motel were a much underrated Australian band. Originally from Tasmania, they moved to Melbourne in the early 1990s, where they met their vocalist, Merida Sussex, working in the Albert Park Library. They recorded a number of EPs and an album in Melbourne, as well as playing many excellent shows. Then they moved to London, recorded a second album (with more of a mainstream feel; perhaps caused by them being signed to Mushroom, with its repertoire of three-chord yoof-rock bands), and promptly broke up. As it happens, their best known works (outside of Australia, in particular) are the second album and one single from it, which is perhaps unfortunate, as their best works are their earliest.

Some Deaths Take Forever was a remix EP of sorts, issued as a follow-up to their first EP, Left Over Life To Kill, which was a work of subtle, desolate beauty, much like the icy Tasmanian landscapes where it was written (what is it about cold climates and sparse, atmospheric, ethereal music?) The remixing was done by the band themselves, and it sounds like they went wild with a hard-disk recorder. Only 2000 copies (individually numbered) were made, but you can still occasionally find one in the shops, if you're lucky.

Legend has it that when they sent the master of the EP off to the CD duplicators, the technicians returned it, complaining that there were technical problems with it. and listening to the first track, "J. Star", one can see how they got that impression, with elements being deliberately distorted and overdriven; yet, layered with the Hammond, strings and Merida's reverbed voice, digital clipping never sounded so good; Had trip-hop been invented in St Kilda, rather than Bristol, it may have sounded like this.

The other six tracks follow, in an interestingly experimental, vaguely post-rock vein. Track 2, "Lorene Damage", is based on an excerpt of a Dirty Three song, with Hammond and vocals overlaid, and track 3 is a smoky cabaret-style number over automatic home-organ percussion. Track 5 is another remix, this time of "German Girl", and features a lushly cinematic string arrangement (apparently Motel member Matt Aulich was a dab hand at those), as well as cut up, disjointed fragments of spoken text, guitars, and layers of reverb. The last, unlisted, track, is also a highlight, consisting of a solitary guitar line, as if off a broken record, and hauntingly ethereal vocals that you can almost make out, amidst layers of subtle noise.

The only mild disappointment, to someone who has seen the Paradise Motel's live shows, is perhaps that the included mix of their cover of the Triffids song "Raining Pleasure" (which they only did live, each time bringing it to an intense climax of noise) is deconstructed beyond recognition. It's an interesting track, though without the punch of the live version.

Personally, hearing Some Deaths Take Forever was a formative experience for me, and played a crucial role in shaping my sense of musical aesthetics, especially in relation to the concept of the remix. (And in the ways that elements were manipulated and played with, one can find parallels with not only post-rock and trip-hop, but with various Warp-label acts as well.)

To sum up: if you see this CD in a record shop, get it, or at least listen to it.