Music Reviews
Artist:
Nicole Willis and The Soul InvestigatorsTitle:
Keep Reachin’ Up RemixedLabel:
Above The Clouds RecordingsWebsite:
http://nicolewillis.com
Brooklyn born Helsinki based Nicole Willis is back with the deliciously titled Soul Investigators, and this time round she’s all mixed up.
As the title suggests ‘Keep Reachin’ Up Remixed’ is a reworked version of Willis’ 2005 smash ‘Keep Reachin’ Up’ – the album that propelled her into the spotlight and got heads like Giles Peterson and Mr Scruff talking. The dusty funk soul sound of the original remains on much of the album but it’s been pushed in a diverse set of direction from Hammond-funk to electronica, via dub-step, jazz, house and reggae.
An Aaron Jerome, BBE nu-blood, mix of ‘Feeling Free’ opens up the album with a smooth jazzy feel while Breakin’ Bread’s Rob Life serves us a break heavy version of the title track a la DJ Format. Remixing duties for ‘If It Ain’t Love’ fall to Mr Scruff who drops some cheeky flute samples and reworks the drums. ‘No One’s Going to Love You’ becomes a bit of a dub-step space boogie in the hands of Blackbeard with the dub vibe continued by Sinbad on ‘Invisible Man’. ‘The Soul Investigator’s Theme’ offers more of the spacey feels, Mike Slott remix, and The Dynamics throw in a little skanking with ‘My 4 Leaf Clover’.
Bugz In The Attic’s Afronaut is brought on board for a broken beat take on ‘Holding On’ while an alternative version of ‘The Soul Investigator’s Theme’ is offered up by hip hop producer Ghost. The album closes with Canada’s Elizabeth Shepherd Trio and their jazzed up bouncy version of ‘If This Ain’t Love’.
Few of the tracks stray very far from their original forms but then again everyone seemed to love them so why should they?
