Original Sounds Of The Zion Remixed

Album review

A couple of years after the release of Zion Train's eighth album, Original Sounds of the Zion, came this collection of remixes of selected tracks by such dub and dance luminaries as Rob Smith, Twilight Circus (aka Legendary Pink Dots bassist Ryan Moore), and Transglobal Underground. The original album's stylistic variety is preserved and even improved upon here. Moore takes "Hailing Up the Selector" into roots-dub territory that is even deeper and darker than that explored in the original version; Balafonic turns "Do You See Love?," which had been a rather ho-hum piece of trancey club music on the first album, and turns it into a light but rich house workout; Speedwell imparts a subtly Brazilian flavor to a nimbly bouncing mix of "Beautiful Children." There are no fewer than four remixes of "Love Revolutionary" on offer here, of which Pier Paolo Polcari's takes the prize by beefing up its underlying pop-funk structure and turning it into a brilliant piece of cross-genre musical celebration (though LBJ and Bommitommi's richly polyrhythmic mix comes in a close second). Overall, this disc makes an excellent companion to the original album.

© Rick Anderson /TiVo