The Dandy Warhols

>The Dandy Warhols' most recent album, The Dandy Warhols ARE Sound, is billed as the "director's cut" — or the Portland, Oregon, band's original mix and vision — of its 2003 effort, Welcome to the Monkey House. That album wasn't unanimously well received by Dandys fans at the time, mainly because its synth-heavy sound was a bit of a departure from the band's earlier, more guitar-centric output. But Sound's soul-driven, dance-friendly remixes (courtesy of producer, mixer and purveyor of all things funky Russell Elevado) rely on a super-tight backbeat and space-age synthesizer ambience for a more mellow, laid-back feel. While it could be argued that Sound is a leaner take on Monkey House, it's still interesting to hear the band's original intention and direction before the record hit the major-label meat grinder. Live, the mellow funk-pulse of these arrangements should be a nice complement to the band's more rock and psychedelic-leaning material. Shae Moseley