Extended Play

Extended Play is a television show about video games that airs on TechTV. The shows host, Adam Sessler, spends a (very scripted) half an hour talking about the latest news in the video game world. There is coverage of upcoming and recently released games for all three next generation systems (Gamecube, XBox and Playstation 2). Also, nearly every show is hosted from a special event (Anime Expo, the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), etc.), or place (The Metreon).

Personally, I enjoy watching this show, for it provides reasonable, unbiased reviews of games, and in-depth coverage of new video games.

Extended Play airs Monday - Thursday at 4 p.m. and again at 6:30 p.m. Eastern, Friday at 9:30 p.m. Eastern, Saturday at 9:30 p.m. Eastern, and Sunday at 12:30 a.m. Eastern.

For more information about this show, and other TechTV shows, visit their website at:
http://www.techtv.com/techtv/

Extended Play is an 8-track, 35 minute long EP (true to its name!) CD by Ladytron with five remixes from Witching Hour and three new B-sides. One or two of the remixes are pretty bad, but the new songs are great and deserve more attention than they're getting on this CD.

Some people complain that Extended Play is nothing more than Rykodisc wanting to make more money, and that Extended Play is superfluous. I don't know how I feel about it. I've never been really excited about remixes, especially when you have to buy them separately. I would have preferred for Witching Hour to be packaged with this CD as a second disc... that is, if the second disc was double-sided.

Extended Play also comes with a DVD, which is the thing that makes buying it worth the money. The DVD has two incredibly great videos for Destroy Everything You Touch and Sugar, and a 30 minute long documentary called Once upon a time in the east: Ladytron in China. The video shows a much-needed light side to the band as they go around the country, doing interviews and performing at concerts. You also get to see that Helen is quite short.

Track Listing:

1. High Rise (Club Mix) (6:09)
   Just as the name suggests, it's a thumpy and repetitive remix of High Rise. It preserves the excellent feel of the original mix, but it gets annoying because it is so repetitive.
2. Nothing To Hide (3:51)
   It's an energetic song sung entirely by Mira. Of course it's awesome. This song shows that the music itself has changed a lot since Light & Magic, too. Have I mentioned that it's in Bulgarian?
3. Weekend (James Iha Mix) (4:02)
   This is a cold sounding mix by the former Smashing Pumpkins member. Bells open up the song, and it sounds like some weird winter wonderland.
4. Sugar (Jagz Kooner Mix) (5:25)
   This remix is disappointing. It sounds like the original song with some keyboard presets layered over it. It's not bad, it's just nothing new.
5. Citadel (3:34)
   The obligatory instrumental! It could be some sort of hip spy background music. It's also varied enough that it isn't annoying.
6. Destroy Everything You Touch (Catholic Version) (4:45)
   This is the original song, but with organs instead of everything else that was going on behind the vocals. This just sounds empty and not very good. I would have liked a better remix instead of this song; I'm sure a lot more could be done with the incredible original song than this. Not catholic at all, by the way.
7. Tender Talons (3:31)
   This almost sounds like some kind of beautiful dirge. It's haunting and filling. So much better than the unsatisfying mix before it.
8. Last One Standing (Shipps & Tait Mix) (3:47)
   This song is fairly close to the original, but it feels much different. It's calm and methodical, and it's the only remix that really suits the song.

I might have judged the remixes a little harshly, but I almost always prefer the original mixes to remixes. The original songs should have been included in the original CD, though. The value of the CD might not be the best, but the DVD makes up for it. Overall, I would consider Extended Play non-essential, but it is nice to have.