It’s not hard to think of Giorgio Moroder as a pioneer of technoligcally driven music. His computer disco stylings of the 1970s more or less made the career of Donna Summer, he’s responsible for dubious excursions into dub-rock via Sigue Sigue Sputnik, and his movie scores for films like Scarface and Top Gun have definitely established whole eras in sound. The bizzare, often cheesy, electronic/pop of Moroder’s reconstruction of the 1926 Fritz Lang classic, Metropolis, hit the cultural pulse of the early eighties with its new wave rendition. There’s nothing quite like old, silent film cinematography set to the rockin’ sounds of Loverboy to perk up your mood.

Therefore it’s no surprise that mix masters of the house and techno scenes of today are enamoured of Moroder. Were it not for him…

On “The Chase,” Paul Oakenfold, Jam & Spoon, Todd Terry, and Junior Sanchez all take a swipe at remixing Morodoer’s original into some funky house tunes. The result is a CD Maxi single that plays simply and well. And you can dance to it.

Often, the big problem with remixes on singles is that they sound either too derivative or too skeletal. That is not the case with these four tracks. Oakenfold comes up with the most textured and pleasurable mix, but Jam & Spoon are definitely the most innovative, with a breakbeat rhythm and change-ups that keep the ear interested. Both the Terry Todd and Junior Sanchez mixes are well produced although they suffer from less creativity than the other two.

The best thing about this disc is that any one of the songs would fit nicely onto a dance mix tape, or you can play it by itself and “The Chase” becomes one extended suspense scene worthy of Ronin or Mute Witness.