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Another Dimension
He may still be best known for playing Joey in Airplane!, but former child actor Ross Harris is also half of the music production/remix unit DJ Me DJ You who spent the past five years assembling Dimension Mix ( Eenie Meenie Records ), a fab homage to the bizarre children’s music devised by Canuck electronic music pioneer Bruce Haack and his partner Esther Nelson . He called in all his favours and wound up with a load of suitably twisted interpretations of Haack’s delightfully bent Dimension 5 label work from Beck , Stereolab , Eels, Apples in Stereo , Oranger , Fantastic Plastic Machine and the Danielson Famile , who all get into the goofy good-time spirit. Be careful, though – once you hear Money Mark ‘s version of Spiders, it may be stuck in your head for weeks. Proceeds go to the Cure Autism Now charity. www.dimensionmix.com.
Timeless Design
Unlike many tribute comps that come packed with predictably reverential covers from musicians who often sound like the artist they’re saluting, The Free Design: Now Sound Redesigned 12-inch remix project undertaken by the Light in the Attic label seemed to favour reinvention over recreation, which is largely a consequence of choosing the right people for the job. The surprisingly diverse disc – edited mixtape-style by DJ Nobody – compiles all the previous vinyl-only rethinks of the Free Design’s trippy soft pop excursions contributed by Super Furry Animals , Madlib , Kid Koala , Stereolab and the High Llamas , Mars Volta’s Ikey Owens and others, with an ingenious Murs and Danger Mouse collabo leading the pack. Sweet. www.lightintheattic.net.
Stepney’s touch
Prior to becoming one of the select few jazz vocalists signed by Blue Note, Marlena Shaw had already recorded some of her career-best work for the Cadet label, thanks to the forward-looking arrangements and recording techniques of Richard Evans and the visionary Charles Stepney . Their fingerprints are all over The Spice Of Life – just reissued by Verve as a 24-bit transfer upgrade – which, despite being cut 37 years ago, sounds remarkably contemporary, particularly Woman Of The Ghetto and the lushly orchestrated California Soul. Should be required listening for aspiring producers.
