Album Review: V/A - Rewind! 4 (Ubiquity)

Writer: Ike Ikwuemesi

Ubiquity Records’ ranking within the jockeyed indie label world is certainly enviable. Their recent production output is testament alone to being at the top of their game. That the label is also home to the Rewind! series is a major feather to its cap. Undeniably, the compilation has gone on to be one of Ubiquity’s stronger portfolios as eager afficionados of the undiluted can confirm.

The Rewind! format is ever so simple: original songs given the experimental makeover treatment by some of the most directional artists and producers the compilation execs can lay their hands on. And true to form, Rewind! 4 is Ubiquity’s who’s who in cutting edge music. There are a couple of “who dat?”s but hey, nothing ventured nothing gained, as the old chestnut goes. And every so now and then a gem of a rendition proves to all what the initial fuss was all about.

The face-offs on Rewind 4 are just as expectedly assorted and none more so than the folksy version of Cameo’s Word Up by the little-known Willis. She stamps her vocal chops to remarkable measure and it works. And almost in vice versa comeuppance is The Platinum Pied Pipers’ take on muzak maestro Burt Bacharach’s languid ballad, The Look of Love. Doused in vocoder acid, the Pipers break the track down to its skeletal parameters and let us know why Detroit is the current place to be for vibed-out soul.

Proving Rewind!’s pluck on tackling music genres ostensibly far removed from its familiar territory is the interpretation of rock saviours White Stripes’ Seven Nation Army by Nostalgia 77. Far from being the proverbial straw that breaks the camel’s back, Nostalgia 77 deliver a highlight and wholeheartedly make the song their own. The same cannot be said for RnB producers du jour, Sa-Ra Creative Partners’ Just Like A Baby which too easily slips through the otherwise-praiseworthy net. However, the flux lasts solely for the duration of the song as Yam Who?’s production reins are flexed for the remix of Heatwave’s Star Of The Story : 7 minutes of breezy, electro soul. Dope.

And now, drum roll please. The award for best cover version of the century goes to… none other than The Rebirth’s Evil Vibrations. One could dedicate a whole website page to said track. But suffice to say that when Rewind! 5 comes around it’s passage into the world will have been made somewhat easier by the inclusion of this showstopper, or rather, starter of a tune. Some songs really do have to be listened to to be believed as adjectives tend to be insufficient. Evil Vibrations is one of them. It features second on the tracklisting and as the compilation plays from start to finish, unsurprisingly none surpasses it on a sonic level.

Rewind! 4 certainly had its work cut out as it predecessor raised the bar immensely. The highlights are hardly in sparse supply, but pound for pound, sound for sound, rewind 4 is just about pipped by Ubiquity’s third outing. But that is saying a lot, and as a standalone compilation, Ubiquity have another winner in the bag as they prove that quality music is alive and well and duly appreciated.

RELATED LINKS:
Ubiquity
Rewind 3 - our review



Buy Rewind 4 at Amazon UK (CD) | US (CD).




PUBLISHED: 12 January 2005

RELEASE DATE: 25 January 2005 (UK/US)

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