Customer Reviews

Remixed & Reimagined (Dig)

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

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!

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.

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.

I will start off by saying this: I did not enjoy the Nina Simone remixed album. Still, I bought this because I wanted to give the idea another chance, and maybe this one was better. Although I enjoyed this collection a bit more, I am still very disappointed.

This disc has all the same problems as the Nina Simone album of the same title; the vocals of legendary Billie Holiday are treated as just another pro-tool by most of the producers. They are chopped up, blurred, distorted and some are neglected and left out of the mixes altogether. Her voice is burried in the mix of extremely repetitive, long and anti-climactic backdrops of lounge music and quite frankly, the emotion and feeling is lost for me. Some of the remixes sound like they put her records on and they just kept on skipping and skipping on the same lyric, over and over again. And as sad as I am to say this, Billie is almost never the main focus.

I did actually enjoy a few. "I Hear Music" is quite energetic, I like the modern touch to "Spreadin' Rhythm Around" and "Glad To Be Unhappy" was pretty nice, too. The others were just a blur for me. A very annoying, drawn out blur. Is this a good CD to play in the background of a small get together or a store? Sure. Is this for you if you like lounge music? Probably, yes. Is it a good thing to put on when cleaning? Why not? But can I sit down, listen to it and appreciate it? No. I'll stick to the originals, thanks.

I do believe that if Lady Day had been a contemporary artist, she would have been one of the first to appreciate her music in this format. I love her music, and I also love downtempo music for meditative times. This is a fabulous album, and I'm enjoying every single track.

As has been said before; if you're a purist, you may not enjoy this album. But if you're adventuresome, and enjoy hearing a new take on a classic, check it out.

Every song is perfectly remixed with an ambiance of House, Down Tempo, Trip Hop, Funk, and Acid Jazz. If you want to hear Billie Holiday in her natural style then buy the original Billie CD's but if you love remixes that take the past and make it a blast for todays generation, this is it!!! The flow of the CD never misses a beat. Each song is perfect in its remix style. This is much better then the Nina remix because it's smoother and the producers really meshed Billie Holidays vocals and original music to the new remix style they intended. Once again, if your looking for original Billie this is not the CD for you but if you want original Billie with a bit of Cayenne Pepper this is it!!!!

I loooooved the cd. It helps people my generation understand the beautiful and softness of Ms. Holiday's voice. I like that they put nice upbeat dance music and beats and joined them togther with her softness and charsmatic voice.

Of course, i wish there was more, but then again, it wouldn't be a "remixed" cd now would it? Bravo!

I can't stop listening to this CD. It is absolutely awesome!!! My favorite this week is track four. If you don't have it you gotta get it!!! The remixes are AWESOME!!!! Talk about innovative and change, these remixes are AWESOME. I can't say it enough!!!!

This CD gets better and better upon repeated listening. Its off the bloody hook really. If you are a jazz purest or struggle with popular genres there is a 99% chance you will not like something like this cross-pollinated effort. As you can see by other reviews this one is not everyones bag of bananas. It doesn't have the monumentality of the original works, but does it have to? Although the feeling may fade a bit with time, I'm really blown by it. I really am. She would have loved this. Makes me love her that much more. Well done.

This album is just a cut and paste job. There is a lot of extra production which adds nothing to the original recording and obscures the talent of Ms Holiday. A couple of tracks work because they enhance the mood of the original without totally deconstructing it, but mostly this is a travesty best forgotten.