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We’re New Here

Gil Scott-Heron & Jamie xx

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iTunes Review

Gil Scott-Heron’s 2010 release, I’m New Here was a terrific comeback album that showed Heron’s voice was still one of anti-authority power. His brilliant social observations that made a name for him back in the ‘70s are still here with the same determination. This remix album by Jamie of the xx is a suitable mash-up of that album’s sparse arrangements and jazzy spoken-word pieces. The extra beats and spacey keyboard bits make this an interstellar version of the original session. Gil Scott-Heron, by way of Jamie xx, goes electro-clash and into the dub chambers until the entire album sounds like a series of studio experiments that could’ve been birthed back in the ‘80s when the Clash, Public Image Ltd. and Brian Eno and David Byrne were discovering the uses of Jamaican dub and instrumental washes. The high weirdness here of “Ur Soul and Mine,” “I’m New Here,” “NY Is Killing Me” and “I’ll Take Care Of U” makes for hypnotic listening. But one should also be aware of Gil Scott Heron’s I’m New Here album. This album is meant as a companion piece to that release and makes far more sense in that context.

Customer Reviews

The best of both worlds

I'm not a real big fan of remix albums, but then again I'm not really sure I would call this a remix album. We're New Here takes the beautiful and jazzy narrative vocals from Gil-Scott Heron and combines them with the progressive, innovative beats from Jamie of The xx. I have to say this is one of the cooler collaborations I've heard in some time. It brings together two genres that not many would have ever placed together and provides something very fresh for both sides. Fantastic record and highly recommended!

Speaking as a rabid fan of GSH and the xx...

This album is okay at best. Really, it just seems like Jamie was sort of messing around on these tracks, using them as experiments with varying rates of success. The only track that I think truly gives the reverence that GSH deserves is I'll Take Care of U, which is the least experimental of the lot. Overall, not terrible, but not anything to get excited about either.

Exemplary mashup

It took me quite a while to warm to this work. If you’re not familiar with Jamie xx’s style, the whole affair can leave a slight first (and second) impression. Returning to it much later, I’m hooked. In any case, this is not necessarily music intended for close listening—I think of it more as a companion, both in the sense personal soundtrack and as a compliment to Scott-Heron’s “I’m New Here”. Gil is present throughout “We’re New Here” as inspiration and, sometimes, as the starting point for a track, but these are not remixes of Gil’s work: they’re Jamie xx compositions that integrate vocal tracks and melodies from Gil’s work. Recommended, but may require patience.

Biography

Born: April 1, 1949 in Chicago, IL

Genre: R&B/Soul

Years Active: '60s, '70s, '80s, '90s, '00s, '10s

One of the most important progenitors of rap music, Gil Scott-Heron's aggressive, no-nonsense street poetry inspired a legion of intelligent rappers while his engaging songwriting skills placed him square in the R&B charts later in his career, backed by increasingly contemporary production courtesy of Malcolm Cecil and Nile Rodgers (of Chic). Born in Chicago but transplanted to Tennessee for his early years, Scott-Heron spent most of his high-school years in the Bronx, where he learned firsthand...
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