Backspin: A Six Degrees 10 Year Anniversary Project

Various Artists (Artist)

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 6, 2007)
• Original Release Date: March 6, 2007
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Six Degrees
• ASIN: B000MG2LJK
• Also Available in: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #61,098 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

World music purists have never been happy with the Six Degrees label's pan-cultural mash-ups or the fact that western rock has a global influence. They'll take no comfort when India's MIDivil PunditZ lay their digitized-Bollywood sound on Led Zeppelin's "Four Sticks," nor respite when Spain's Ojos de Brujo conduct a flamenco romp through Bob Marley's "Get Up Stand Up." It's all part of the concept of Backspin: A Six Degrees 10 Year Anniversary Project. Each of these artists, all associated with Six Degrees, covers a song that had an influence on them. Like Jimi Hendrix with "All Along the Watchtower," the best make the song so personal that you forget the original. And speaking of Hendrix, psychedelia fares well on Backspin, with a cover of the guitarist's "If 6 was 9" by Rara Avis (from Desert Dwellers). A nine-minute compression of Pink Floyd's "Echoes" by Banco de Gaia is a jewel of hallucinogenic electronica. Singer Azam Ali and Niyaz are probably the only ones who could take the Cure's "Love Song" and make it sound like a Rumi love poem. Dzihan & Kamien's soul-jazz take on Herbie Hancock's "Rockit" is actually more jazz-driven than the original electro-funk hit, with some Herbie Mann-style solo flute driving the track. Few transformations are as radical as the Real Tuesday Weld's deadpan, Leonard Cohenesque read of ABBA's "The Day Before You Came." Yet even the relatively faithful versions reveal new dimensions in these works, like Karsh Kale's ominous stomp on the Police's "Spirits in the Material World." Shrift's ethereally intoxicated drift through the Beach Boys' "God Only Knows" makes it sound even more heavenly than the original. But most artists here completely reinvent their songs. Backspin isn't meant to be profound, but it does underscore the global-village ethos that has brought the music of the world as close as the click of a key. --John Diliberto

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Six Degrees of Outdated Thinking, March 14, 2007

By	Snarky music-head (Charleston, WV United States) - See all my reviews

When I read a certain reviewer's comments about this disc, I have to smile to myself. "World music purists have never been happy with the Six Degrees label's pan-cultural mash-ups or the fact that western rock has a global influence." Pan-cultural mash-ups? How about cutting-edge musical hybrids? Purists? There is no purity in music, that's a myth.

Some public radio shows, once vibrant and influential, have now become old fashioned and stagnant, clinging to the model of space music and noodling new age, failing to see that Six Degrees is putting out some of the best music of our time. It's too early to tell how important this music will be, hell, it's too early even to find a name for a genre of this music, but one thing's for certain: this is an exciting time to be listening. Purists need not apply. You have stopped growing in your listening. Music moves forward.

"Backspin isn't meant to be profound, but it does underscore the global-village ethos that has brought the music of the world as close as the click of a key."

Translation: they aren't navel gazing here and the internet has made the world a "global village." How original, dude. Go back to sleep.

To my ears, Six Degrees is an important label that is on the cutting edge producing artists that skillfully are creating a new world music.

Sleep time with drono synths is over. Time to wake up to the next step in world music.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A favorite of 2007, April 5, 2007

By	R. Petitpas "djbearrob" (Oakland, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Six Degrees label artists cover some of their favorite tracks.
The first 3 tracks on this cd are worth the price alone. I was very happy to see that dZihan & Kamien had put out a new track and Rockit fits them well. The suprise on this cd is Bombay Dub Orchestra doing a track that is so very different from their own extremely mellow cd. Their track here is very danceable and reminds me of the late, great Lost At Last. I can only hope BDO heads in this direction and puts out an dance album.
MIDIval PunditZ work Led Zep's Four Sticks - a perfect match. The Real Tuesday Weld track took awhile to grow on me (not being an ABBA fan) but I think it is brilliant. The simplicity of Shrift's God Only Knows gets to the heart of the Beach Boys track and it works beautifully.
Weak tracks for me are the flamenco Marley cover and Banco de Gaia's Pink Floyd cover. Don't care for the vocoder and it just is too much of a Floyd copy without adding much. However, the tracks aren't bad, just not up to the strengths of the others.
If you are a fan of any of the Six Degrees label cds or artists, go to your nearest cd store and buy this now.

3.0 out of 5 stars An interesting mishmash of cover songs reinterpreted by Six Degrees artists, August 23, 2009

By	E. Anderson - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

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Earlier this summer, I stumbled upon Niyaz's version of The Cure's "Love Song" on Azam Ali's Myspace page. I quickly fell in love with Niyaz's lush interpretation of the classic Cure song. Not long ago I decided to buy the album BACKSPIN: A SIX DEGREES 10 YEAR ANNIVERSARY PROJECT. I have to confess that I wasn't really familiar with a lot of the songs that the artists covered except for by the songs Karsh Kale, Niyaz, Jojos de Brujo, and Shrift done. Of the tracks that I wasn't familiar with, my personal favorite is The Real Tuesday Weld's version of ABBA's "The Day Before You Came". I really enjoyed the melodies and the singer's vocals on that song.I also enjoyed Shrift's cover of The Beach Boys' "God Only Knows". I really liked the delicate vocals. Most of the songs were alright but they didn't capture my heart like Niyaz's version of "Love Song" did. I think the reason why I am so blase about the rest of the album is because I am not familiar with a lot of the songs so I couldn't compare them with the original versions. I will say that it is great to hear artists from Six Degrees acknowledge their pop influences by covering a particular song from their favorite pop artist/band.