Various

FE Music: The Reworks

BY Kevin JonesPublished Mar 8, 2013

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Long on a steady build towards gaining traction as an official collective, the Foreign Exchange-led FE Music team are now taking the next big step along that journey with an illuminating collection of remixes and lesser-known cuts by the crew and their varied co-conspirators. With a running time of nearly two hours, tracks on The Reworks offer a fair bit to choose from stylistically without diverging entirely from their largely soulful beginnings. And while many cuts don't necessarily top their originals, there are a number of strong exceptions. Nicolay's take on RJD2's "Games You Can't Win," with its prominent piano and subbed-in, more classic drum rhythm, adds so much more emotion to Kenna's reflective lyrics, while Zo! classes up "Gonna Be A Beautiful Night" with his bass- and drum-led rendition. Other sound contributors include Tall Black Guy, the Randy Watson Experience and orchestral dance/groove legends 4hero. While a small handful of songs and remixes over the collection's two records fall a bit flat or go completely awry (check the end of "The Last Fall"), the many stronger turns manage to balance things out rather nicely.
(Foreign Exchange)

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