JUNGLE MUSIC (REISSUE)

構成数 : 2枚
合計収録時間 : 00:00:00
Not as extensive as Mixed with Love, the Strut label's Jungle Music nevertheless has a wider scope than that triple-disc box, which was released in 2004 on Suss'd and focused on Walter Gibbons' remix work for Salsoul. Between the two releases, three tracks overlap, but each one is crucial to enjoying and comprehending Gibbons' ahead-of-his-time genius. During the seven-minute 12" version of Double Exposure's "Ten Percent," the guitars and drums from an elegant, soaring slice of disco-soul are weaponized. The "Disco Madness Mix" of the Salsoul Orchestra's "Magic Bird of Fire (Firebird Suite)" is an absolute nightmare for Stravinsky fans, an orgy of drums, hand percussion, barrelhouse piano, thrumming bass, and (oh yeah) some strings -- closer to a dozen finely segued breakdowns than a proper tune. The 12" mix of Luv You Madly Orchestra's "Moon Maiden," highly eroticized and swooning, is nine minutes of torture for Duke Ellington purists. Gibbons' advanced handiwork for other (often much smaller) labels was just as out-there, whether it cleared dancefloors or just happened to be in service to them. This aspect of the DJ/remixer's career is highlighted by Jakki's "Sun.Sun.Sun" (which switches between euphoric, horn-spiked disco-funk and creepy proto-tribal house), Sandy Mercer's "You Are My Love" (where he showed rare restraint but used simplicity and repetition to great effect in the breakdown), and the male and female versions of the hissing house anthem "Set It Off" (issued on his Jus Born label in 1984 and 1986). Gibbons' radical irreverence would be easier to discern with a companion compilation of the original mixes, but for most disco heads not completely in the know, these two discs will get the point across and leave them begging for more. ~ Andy Kellman