Combustication Remix - EP

Album Review

What makes Combustication Remix such a fun program is the fact that Medeski, Martin & Wood's sound is normally so organic — comprised of John Medeski on Hammond organ, upright bassist Chris Wood and drummer Billy Martin, the trio has always cultivated a warm, funky sound that is far removed from the digital bleeps and synthetic grooves of electronic dance music. So bringing in four DJs, a rapper, and Bill Laswell to work some remix voodoo on tracks from the latest MM&W album was a move both counterintuitive and inspired. Illy B goes the techno route on his remix of "Hey-Hee-Hi-Ho"; Guru intones some somber ghetto consciousness over a hip-hopped-up arrangement of "Whatever Happened to Gus"; DJ Logic weaves an eerie, illbient groove out of "Start-Stop"; and Dan the Automator gets similarly downtempo on his remix of "Nocturne," which actually incorporates a Steel Pulse sample. But best of all is Bill Laswell's ten-minute take on "Satan's Church of Hypnotized Logic," which retains much of the flavor of the original while muscling it up with heavier bass and Middle Eastern vocal samples.