Reviewing The Marriage Of Electronic Dance Music And Marley
By Bill McCoy,
PubClub.com And Bar Blogger Music Critic
I had the pleasure of witnessing the marriage of two genres that I never thought could come together in music.
Like two people who you’d never in a million years thought would find happiness together. Yet somehow it works. That union was between EDM (Electronic Dance Music) and Reggae in the form of Bob Marley LEGEND Remix.
The music of Bob Marley is timeless and his art and poetry created a movement that to this day is still loved and appreciated by fans worldwide. His iconic album, LEGEND, is by far the most notable and recognizable, not to mention his best selling work at over 40 million copies globally.
A veritable “Best Of” album containing some of the songwriters material that made it’s way into mainstream culture. It’s one of those albums like Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon,” Led Zeppelin’s “Zeppelin 4,” the Beatles “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,” and Grateful Dead’s “American Beauty” that transcended their own niche and found their way into everyone’s record collection at some point in their life.
Wednesday night, August 7th, a party was held at the El Rey Theater in Los Angeles, CA for the worldwide release of the Bob Marley LEGEND: Remix documentary.
A one-hour peek into the world of EDM producers taking on the monumental task of bringing a modern electronic dance flair to an piece of musical history that, by some account, was fine just the way it was. Marley’s children, Ziggy Marley and Stephen Marley along with co-producer, Jason Bentley teamed up with some of the worlds top EDM artists to tackle this project. Along with sponsors Universal Music Enterprises (UMe), Hyundai and Tuff Gong Worldwide the Marleys payed extra special care to not bastardize the music of their father but rather pay tribute with new life to the old songs.
Contributing to the remixing were ten time Grammy winner Stephen Marley <http://www.stephenmarleymusic.com/> , Pretty Lights, Thievery Corporation, Jason Bentley, Z-Trip with Lee “Scratch” Perry, Photek, My Morning Jacket’s Jim James, Roni Size, RAC, Beats Antique, Nickodemus & Zeb, as well as a new rendition remix of “Redemption Song” by five-time Grammy Award winning reggae artist, Ziggy Marley.
LEGEND: REMIXED <http://tinyurl.com/legendremixed> [CD, LP, digital]
Produced by Ziggy Marley, Stephen Marley, and Jason Bentley
Is This Love (Jason Bentley Remix)
No Woman No Cry (Stephen Marley Remix)
Could You Be Loved (RAC Remix)
Three Little Birds (Stephen Marley and Jason Bentley Remix)
Buffalo Soldier (Stephen Marley Remix)
Get Up Stand Up (Thievery Corporation Remix)
Stir It Up (Ziggy Marley Remix)
Easy Skanking (Stephen Marley Remix)
One Love/People Get Ready (Photek Remix)
I Shot The Sheriff (Roni Size Remix)
Waiting In Vain (Jim James Remix)
Redemption Song (Ziggy Marley Remix)
Satisfy My Soul (Beats Antique Remix)
Exodus (Pretty Lights Remix)
Jamming (Nickodemus & Zeb Remix)
Punky Reggae Party (Z-Trip Remix featuring Lee “Scratch” Perry)
Performing at the party were DJ’s Photek and Beats Antique spinning tracks from the album in their 1 hour sets. Fitting that this party was held on Bob Marley Day in Los Angeles!
Your author has not had the chance to listen to the album in full. Not being a “fan” of EDM, I went in with an open mind but with the “not expecting much” attitude.
I was pleasantly surprised.
The producers took great care in keeping Marley’s message first and foremost in the recordings and using most of the original tracks to develop their new vibe. It came through very well in what I heard.
If you’ve never been able to dance hard to reggae before, this album will certainly give you the opportunity to get your feet moving in a whole new way to the music you know and love from days of yore. If you are new to EDM, it’s a nice transition into that world with familiar vocals and songs.
Crack open a beer, kick back and prepare to see Bob Marley in a whole new light.
Cheers!
Links:
• www.bobmarley.com
• facebook.com/BobMarley • Zizzy Marley
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