 [Larger view] | Various Artists - Verve Remixed
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 A Cosmopolitan, a few friends and just kick back | |
| Loving most of these tracks in the original form I approached this CD with anticipation but at the same time with trepidation. Too often we hear the classics remixed but to what purpose. However, this CD seems to add a layer to the tracks that not only maintains the purity of the original but lifts them into a different sphere. Nina Simone's See-Line Woman (remixed by Masters at Work) and Dinah Washington's Is You Or Is You Ain't My Baby (remixed by Rae & Christian) enter a whole new dimension of electronica and beats whilst maintaining the integrity of the diva's vocals and nuances. The amazing pair of Rob Garza and Eric Hilton from Thievery Corporation have always defined cool for me and with their remix of Astrud Gilberto they don't disappoint. Joe Clausell's remix of Nina Simone singing Feelin' Good would have to be the funkiest chilled track of the year. That haunting piano remains with a backing of electonic funk. This is a great album for chill out Sunday's, friends for brunch, coming down from Saturday night or just you at home alone with a Cosmopolitan. A must have for fans of Verve and some of todays masters of remix. | |
 highly variable collection | |
| A highly uneven collection of 12 remixes, mostly of female jazz vocalists from 1960s, from the archives of the Verve label. As another reviewer observed, most of these remixes are likely to satisfy neither techno/downtempo/whateveryouwanttocallit nor jazz enthusiasts. Basic problem is shoehorning the jazz vocals into shoes that lose the rhythmic suppleness of the originals. The two that to my ears work the best, Rae and Christian's remix of the jump blues "Is You or Ain't You My Baby?" by Dinah Washington, and Masters at Work version of Nina Simone's "See-Line Woman," work the best precisely because the originals are the most R&B-oriented of the underlying tunes and the remixes stand up to the originals nicely. (The video for "Is You?" is quite entertaining as well.) The open triumvirate of Dormeister reworking Willie Bobo's "Spanish Grease," MJ Cole's version of Carmen McRae's "How Long Has This Been Going On?," and Thievery Corporation's remix of Astrud Gilberto "Who Needs Forever" make for nice party background music. The last three cuts, UFO/Sarah Vaughan "Summertime," Tricky/Billie Holladay "Strange Fruit," and King Britt/Tony Scott "Hare Krishna" bear out the adage that not all experiments succeed. | |
| Balance | |
| It seems that there are three types of people who purchased this CD. 1. The Jazz fanatic who ends up hating it because the work is not in tack or the artist vocals where rewroked. 2. The uneducated "Techno" (Its a genre of edm not a generalization of edm folks) fan who doesn't get or appreciate the beauty of the classic jazz tracks. 3. The heads who get jazz and understand the mantra like qualities of EDM. The remixes on this album are mostly fantastic, some are creative and dont hold to a pop format which makes them more uncomfortable than the standard "song" If you are someone who read Kerouac in high school or university, dug nina and ella and monk and davis and mingus and then discovered the New Jazz (EDM and IDM) then buy this CD. If you are in either of the 2 catagories of uneducated techno fan or old school jazz purist you may have to open you mind to get the beauty of this piece. |
