Remixed & Reimagined (Dig)

Billie Holiday | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 7, 2007)
• Original Release Date: 2007
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sony Legacy
• ASIN: B000NA283Y
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #76,046 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Hot on the heels of Nina Simone's like-minded project, this 14-track disk takes Billie Holiday's masterful and mourning vocals of 1935 to 1958 to the 21st-century digital dance floor, courtesy of some resourceful remixers and DJs from Swingsett & Takuya and Nickodemus & Zeb to Organica and Poppyseed. You have to give these aural alchemists credit for their daring, but some tracks work better than others. The best include "Spreadin’ Rhythm Around," featuring Digable Planet's Ladybug Mecca, the echoplexed embers of GXR's "Long Gone Blues," DJ Logic's string-centric "Glad to be Unhappy," and Daniel Y's infectious, Soul to Soul/Loose Ends grooved "Billie's Blues." With augmentation provided by live guitarists, keyboardists, and percussionists, these scientists of sound don't desecrate the gardenia-wearing goddess's eternal artistry; rather, they globally reposition it for this era's electronica-fueled iPod generation, from the downbeat to the download. --Eugene Holley, Jr.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Reimagined imaginatively, September 3, 2007

By 

heyamishgirl (Baltimore, MD United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Remixed & Reimagined (Dig) (Audio CD)

If you're a Billie Holiday purist, as some of these other reviewers seem to be, this is not the CD for you. But if your taste in music ranges from classic jazz to downtempo, this is a terrific compilation.

True, Billie Holiday's voice is borrowed in bits and piece and the songs are not played all the way, per se, but I think the mixes highlight the genius of her phrasing and range of voice. She sounds completely contemporary, as if she had sung the songs for the tracks. I also liked the range of styles included. With some CDs of this sort, you get things that sound like they blend together (and not in a good way), but on this CD, each song has a unique presence.

In "Spreadin' the Rhythm Around" the RR Remix, you can almost picture her with Lady Bug on a stage in one of those live let's-bring-together-all-kinds-of-artists performances, that often disappoints, but sometimes produces concert magic. The energy is contagious.

Another one of my favorites is Poppyseed's remix of "He Ain't Got Rhythm" which juxtoposes an excellent rhythm section against the words of the song. The message, unsung, is that she has enough rhythm for both of them.

Love it!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not as good as Nina Simone Remix . . ., September 9, 2007

By 

A. D. S. Garcia "A & T" (Mexico City, D.F. Mexico) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Remixed & Reimagined (Dig) (Audio CD)

We got this because we were so happy with the Nina Simone remix. We felt it was a great light manipulation of Nina's music, but Nina Simone's music remained the focus of the disk, whereas the Billy Holiday remix seems to be more about the DJ or the remix, or the something, but a lot of the soul of the BIlly Holiday music is lost. It is still a good CD, 6 or 7 on a scale of 1 to 10, but it isn't as nice as the Nina Simone of the same name.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Billie Holiday does not sing here anymore, August 8, 2007

By 

KURLYLOX (Dallas, PA United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Remixed & Reimagined (Dig) (Audio CD)

I purchased this Remixed CD because I want to enjoy another experience with Billie Holiday. The music is not Billie but dance club music. She is there in spirit and in the background but not singing soulfully. This interpretation is interesting; however it is fulled with instrumental and not Billie singing. #13 But Beautiful is sounding like "another one bites the dust". I think that some DJ somewhere is enjoying this recording; however if you are looking for Billie she is not here.