Oddisee / Various

The trend of everyone and their mother remixing entire albums peaked with Jay-Z’s The Black Album and thankfully has abated. Most did it to raise their profile and with The Remixture, Oddissee is no different. However Oddisee is no bedroom producer trying to run before he can walk. The Low Budget crew member has been steadily issuing accomplished soundscapes for a number of underground artists and up-and-coming indie label Halftooth for a few years now, yet remains surprisingly underrated. On The Remixture, Oddisee reconfigures an assortment of R&B and hip-hop tracks in his vision. Sometimes taking on tracks like De La Soul’s "Stakes Is High” is a losing proposition no matter what because of the imposing shadow of the original, yet Oddisee does pull off some notable exceptions. The Fugees’ "Fugee-La” sounds reinvigorated courtesy of the injected reggae bounce, and the pedestrian original production of Organized Konfusion’s "Somehow Someway” is positively impacted benefiting the song’s lyrics. Other tracks from Memphis Bleek, Michael Jackson and even 50 Cent demonstrate Oddisee’s growing versatility. While the beats here don’t quite do justice to Oddisee’s overall abilities, The Remixture should deservedly raise the profile of this talented beatmaker.