If there is a more tired and overdone practice in the music business
than taking a bunch of classic tracks and handing them off to modern
artists and producers to re-interpret, I don't know one. I have seen
more played out, poorly executed "classics updated" projects come
across my desk than I care to remember. Even in the midst of this
completely uninspiring genre, there is a project that appears on a
rare occasion that bucks the trend and shines through. This new
Motown Remixed project is just one such collection. Surely not every
reworking here is a success, and where it fails, it fails miserably.
But just one listen to the truly remarkable reinterpretation of "I
Want You Back" by Z Trip, or the utterly stunning "Papa Was A Rolling
Stone" by Jazzy Jeff and Pete Kuzma and you know you are onto
something special. Motown fans and lovers of forward thinking music
need look no further than this 15-track set. Sometimes, to see the
future, the best place to look is in your rare view mirror. Quality.
