Last year I reviewed the original version of this album (http://springlinejamaica.blogspot.com/2009/08/alice-russell-pot-of-gold.html) and it has now been brought out in a remix version.
Towards the end of last year subscribers to http://www.alicerussell.com/ were offered the chance to participate in the interactive ‘Which Remix?’ debate. 90 second clips of remixes from Alice’s Pot Of Gold album were streamed, allowing fans to rate how much they loved each track. A link to participate was promoted via online promotion (blogs, webzines, music sites) as well as the mailing list of Big Chill and Mean Fiddler with e-flyers advertising ‘Which Remix’ sent from every remix artist to their own mailing lists. The most popular tracks have now been collated into a 22 track double CD featuring remixes from the likes of Mr Scruff, DJ Vadim, Shawn Lee, Yellowtail, The Heavy and many more.
I know remixes have been around for ages and ages, but sometimes I find them a bit ….well lazy… apart from giving the tracks a more cluby feel by turning up the bass and beefing up the beat they often don’t really bring much else to the table. There is no real problem with that here, yeah there are some like the Dusty mix of Universe which aren’t that far removed from the original version, but there are also the likes of Emika’s take on ‘Hurry On Now’ which are far removed their starting points. The vocals are almost stripped out completely bar a few chosen phrases and the tune is turned from that of a beautiful crafted ballad into a throbbing bass driven, instrumental soundscape.
Other particular mixes I liked were the Herma Puma remix of ‘Two Steps’. The pacey Northern Soul beat has been stripped out and a slower more dubby feel has been applied Also the Shawn Lee version of the same song has done much the same but this time with the song becoming almost a bit of a soul ballad, with rocky guitar tinged outro. The Lilstemix of ‘Living the Life’ sees a bit of a reggae feel added to the foray, with a shuffling skank of a beat and subtle melodica tones in the background, while ‘All Alone’ remixed by Captain Planet adds a big time funky drum to what was a quite delicate soulful jazzy tune.
Some interesting reworks of Miss Russell’s work for sure, but call me old fashioned if you like I’ll take the original cuts anytime.
Towards the end of last year subscribers to http://www.alicerussell.com/ were offered the chance to participate in the interactive ‘Which Remix?’ debate. 90 second clips of remixes from Alice’s Pot Of Gold album were streamed, allowing fans to rate how much they loved each track. A link to participate was promoted via online promotion (blogs, webzines, music sites) as well as the mailing list of Big Chill and Mean Fiddler with e-flyers advertising ‘Which Remix’ sent from every remix artist to their own mailing lists. The most popular tracks have now been collated into a 22 track double CD featuring remixes from the likes of Mr Scruff, DJ Vadim, Shawn Lee, Yellowtail, The Heavy and many more.
I know remixes have been around for ages and ages, but sometimes I find them a bit ….well lazy… apart from giving the tracks a more cluby feel by turning up the bass and beefing up the beat they often don’t really bring much else to the table. There is no real problem with that here, yeah there are some like the Dusty mix of Universe which aren’t that far removed from the original version, but there are also the likes of Emika’s take on ‘Hurry On Now’ which are far removed their starting points. The vocals are almost stripped out completely bar a few chosen phrases and the tune is turned from that of a beautiful crafted ballad into a throbbing bass driven, instrumental soundscape.
Other particular mixes I liked were the Herma Puma remix of ‘Two Steps’. The pacey Northern Soul beat has been stripped out and a slower more dubby feel has been applied Also the Shawn Lee version of the same song has done much the same but this time with the song becoming almost a bit of a soul ballad, with rocky guitar tinged outro. The Lilstemix of ‘Living the Life’ sees a bit of a reggae feel added to the foray, with a shuffling skank of a beat and subtle melodica tones in the background, while ‘All Alone’ remixed by Captain Planet adds a big time funky drum to what was a quite delicate soulful jazzy tune.
Some interesting reworks of Miss Russell’s work for sure, but call me old fashioned if you like I’ll take the original cuts anytime.
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