Circumsounds is an uncommon, but not rare brand of compilation: one that collects the various remix productions of a single artist and presents them in interlocking form. In this case, the artist is Flint Glass, also known as Gwenn Tremorin, the manager of Brume Records (France) and an ambient/industrial performer in his own right, with two previous albums under his belt as well as numerous collaborations. Tremorin's critically-acclaimed solo work is a combination of ambient washes and precise percussion, moody yet instantly engaging.

What Tremorin attempts to do here is to superimpose his own style over that of multiple artists in order to make the album feel like a unified whole. This works best on the earlier half of the album, which has more of a Flint Glass feel, but on the album's latter half, the source material overwhelms Tremorin's smoothing touch. This is not necessarily a bad thing; one always appreciates a compelling track, no matter what the source. The difficulty enters into the scoring, because Circumsounds exists in the broad netherworld between compilation and artist album. Two changes might have resulted in a higher score: the addition of ambient bridges between tracks and the sublimation of vocals on the few singer-dominated tracks, as the vocals do not really come to the fore until the end of Suicide Inside's "Angel," the seventh track, striking like a venomous serpent hidden beneath a mossy stone, then retreating.

Tremorin's greatest success on this album is that he is able to smooth out the rough edges of various artists, who by virtue of budget or intention have often presented a crunchy, poorly-mastered patina. Belgium's Empusae is an obvious beneficiary of this soundboard alteration, but the greatest winner here is easily HIV+, who despite several albums and remixes of his own has never sounded this good, this full, this immediate. The first of two HIV+ tracks ("Havoc 2027") is an absolute highlight due to a cavernous treatment that expands his sound to stadium capacity. (The repetitive "Doors of Perception" fares worse.) Disharmony's "Sacred Truth" is another top track, featuring creative speaker-to-speaker percussion effects and a nascent sense of tension. Decent, but less compelling work is turned in on Polygon's "Gestern" (German dialogue over a series of slowly-building drones, culminating in a skittish series of drum patterns) and Thermidor's "Plenum Aquae" (3:44 was too long to wait for the drums). Also pleasing: the throwback patterns of Sci Fi Industries and the propulsive swagger of Prospero.

The album's weaker offerings are those which combine infrequently wavering drum patterns with restrained melodic development. Tracks from Eretsua, Zonk't, Shizuka, Displacer and Tzolk'in each fall into this category; in light of the tight work turned in elsewhere on the album, these pieces need a little more punch (Not that anyone deserves their money back!). Finally, album closer "Blood for Oil" by OTX was a strong track before the remix, but I feel that the pounding drums mark it as too commercial.

In the end, what we have here is the sort of album which probably won't be played straight through too often, but that yields enough unexpected pleasures to be worth the purchase. Most listeners will end up with a few favorites and then head straight to Tympanik Audio and MySpace to find more. As a remix resume, it's a mixed bag for Flint Glass, who demonstrates here that while he is highly qualified, his output varies in quality from the outstanding to the merely good.