In our stressful world, where homophobic bible-thumpers are denying us the right to marry the ones we love, it’s important to be able to wind down, chill out, and kick back. The delightful down-tempo tracks on the Voices From The Dust Bowl (Bar De Lune) disc by Fragile State allow for just that. The Fragile State duo (Neil Cowley and Ben Mynott) creates musical interludes that allow you to relax without putting you into a Muzak coma, and that is high praise indeed. The aptly titled “King For A Day” imparts the royal treatment and “New Bassa” washes over you like gently rolling tides. You can count on “600 Bliss” to soothe you, while “At Last” suggests a long-awaited release of tension. “Paper Smile” may very well bring a much needed smile to the faces of some and just as you may begin to feel yourself drifting off, “Overcurrent” gets your attention and keeps you focused with some understated beats.
Following in the jazzy footsteps of the Verve Remixed discs, Blue Note gets into the action with the various artists Blue Note Revisited (Blue Note.) This is a compilation that features the pairing up of recordings by some of the influential jazz label’s most important performers with a variety of remixers. Of the two Wayne Shorter tracks, D J Mehdi’s treatment of “Footprints (Dub),” is the more exciting one, making the footprints a rewarding challenge to follow. Madlib transforms Bobbi Humphrey’s super-funky “Young Warriors” into a call to arms (as in “Why don’t you find yourself a young warrior and wrap your arms around him?”). Donald Byrd’s “The Emperor” gets some new clothes tailored by DJ Cam featuring a rap by Erik Truffaz. Jazzanova lays down a chunky beat for Eddie Gale’s “Song Of Will” Osunlade helps to make Grant Green’s “A Time To Remember” memorable, and Herbert will have listeners lining up for Michel Petrucciani’s “Caravan.”