Various

Bruce Haack was Alberta’s own star child, building homemade electronics from ingredients scavenged from shops on New York’s Canal Street and creating weird and wonderful electronic soundscapes a decade before Kraftwerk and Giorgio Moroder. He’s most revered for his children’s records. At their best, Haack and partner Esther Nelson’s Dimension 5 label created highly literate, psychedelic and utterly respectful electronic scenarios for kids of all ages. Spanning participatory games, history and science lessons, and inspiration from cultures around the world and knitted together with Haack’s amazing sense of groove, these tunes continue to inspire a wide array of artists. Dimension Mix was assembled by DJ Me DJ You as a benefit to Cure Autism Now, a very appropriate charity for Haack’s super-communicative music. Everyone has a grand time singing these evergreen tunes. Beck’s version of the moralistic "Funky Little Song” is annoying compared to the original, but is actually quite a fitting entry into his catalogue. Stereolab’s cover of the South Asian inspired "Mudra” is the most conceptually ambitious take, combining Laetitia Sadler’s massed vocals with the original’s trippy pulsating. Along the same lines is Anubian Lights’ version of "Walking Eagle,” which amplifies a peace pipe motif to its logical conclusion. On the other hand, Eels and Apples in Stereo bring the rock to Haack, proving these songs are catchy and well written even without the electronic wizardry. This album should please the cult of Haack, and will certainly win him new fans based on the contributors’ reputation alone.