Music Blogs

Remixed records are like gnats in summer: everywhere to be found, in your clothes, buzzing in your hair, even invading your private parts. And remixes are seemingly as easy to produce as a cash register going ca-ching. Labels love remixes for all the obvious reasons: what better way to sell back catalog than inject it with some faceless DJ flow? But in the right hands, the remix can elevate the original track, treating it with respect while updating its sound for contemporary ears. The upcoming Billie Holiday Remixed & Reimagined release manages to combine respect with creativity as does the latest Tuff Gong remix effort, Bob Marley Roots, Rock, Remixed. The songs include many from Marley's famed catalog; the remixers include DJ Spooky, Fort Knox Five, King Kooba, Bombay Dub Orchestra, Jimpster and Afrodisiac Sound System.

Comprised of Jed, DJ Haul and DJ Mason, Afrodisiac Sound System took Marley's original "Soul Shakedown Party" and freaked it silly with buzzing bass, deep space delays and reverb: the currency of classic dub ala King Tubby and Lee "Scratch" Perry. The track retains its organic, summer stoned vibe, but the contemporary production makes it ooze into your ears like golden honey. Afrodisiac kept Marley's vocal intact, beefed up the bass, and slammed the groove, adding space swooshes to the breakdown for extra flavor. Marley purists will probably cringe, but it is amazing how well his songs work over a bulbous bass groove and squeaky sampled sound effects.

Bob Marley & The Wailers: "Soul Shakedown Party (Afrodisiac Sound System Remix)"  (MP3, 4:04)

Illegal Love in the Time of Bush: "You wanna die in a car crash, in the back of a city cab?," sings all American Tennessean Josh Rouse. (Do you know what nemesis means?) Typically a sucker for cozy, foggy folk-pop that leaves you as calm as a suntanned beach bum, Josh Rouse is also a skilled songwriter, able to conjure moods and visions. Aided here by Spanish chanteuse (and girlfriend) Paz Suay, this short form EP matches Rouse's rustic melodies and deft wordplay with Suay's klutzy vocal delivery and rose smelling charm. Conventional wisdom holds that men love the beautiful klutz (consider JFK Jr's blonde'n'beautiful wife), even if she's screaming at you while the prop plane smacks the surface of the Atlantic at 600 MPH. But this klutz is of Spanish derivation, so her sultry vocal coos and air of midday siesta languor will cover any screams she may muster at a later date. She's Spanish, I'm American transports your chilled winter frame to a Rio beach -- the stirring heat, the swaying hips, the allure of danger, the tightening grip on your wallet.

"Car Crash," like the rest of the album, is the result of Rouse's 2006 relocation to Spain, and of course, the culture shock that ensued. Nearly gone are the folk downtempos of his 2005 release, Nashville. What remains, and much improved to boot, is Rouse's magical songwriting (check his site, Joshrouse.com). "Car Crash" describes premature death at the hands of an illegal cab driver (or is that local white trash?), the gauzy beat skipping like soukous into a grandly glowing chorus. Rouse doesn't "want to die in a car crash in a New York City cab," but the song hints at VU innervisions and druggy walks in rotting parks. "The Ocean Always Wins" avoids urban dread, its gentle acoustic guitar driving Suay's girlish, Susannah Hoffs' worthy sensuality. Swaying strings, creepy guitars and Suay's monosyllabic vocals send the love/death birds. "These Long Summer Days" sounds like a remake of America's "Muskrat Love" to me. And that is a good thing, just don't think Captain and Tenille. Then before you know it, the lovestruck tourists are heading back to Spain on the fat dance beats of "Answers," Rouse's falsetto loping, Robin Gibb-like, over the song's dream mood and Suay's insistent sexuality. Get out the cab. Hit the road. Download the song.

She's Spanish, I'm American: "Car Crash"  (MP3, 3:43)