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Noted producer Alex Under returns to his mysterious Dolly La Parton alias for the first time since his 2006 rework of Shakira's "Whatever" blew up.

Since the Bemysheep imprint, now on its fifth release, has always explored ground-up remakes of popular (if slightly askew) mainstream songs there is nothing to report on that front in terms of changes.
On the fifth volume, Under tears apart Kurt Elling's beatnik inspired scat jazz song "It's Just A Thing" into a chugging tech house for sophisticated underground crowds while the darker re-conceptualization of the Anthony Hamilton ghetto classic "Cornbread, Fish & Collard Greens" delves squarely into the world of Matthew Dear's Audion.

Featuring some foot tapping percussion and a clever usage of the original tracks jazz licks - things like a bass line or piano chord are used sparingly while Elling's original vocals are cut up throughout the track. For effect, some of his phrases are allowed to play out and subsequently followed by eerie sirens to heighten the intensity.
This remix does, however, sound a bit ragged as two interesting ideas collide and never full connect with each other. There are nice moments but the general feeling is one of being disjointed and ramshackle.

Precision is achieved on the more sinister b-side as Hamilton's source vocals are filtered and muted into piecemeal hooks and strung around a framework of dark, plunking bass and ethereal melodies. The low-end bounce and mid-range techno crescendos definitely flirt with Matthew Dear's sense of dramatics as Audion but in the end feel more organic like a low-budget Tiefschwarz.

Artist: Dolly La Parton Title: It's Just A Thing Label: Be My Sheep Tracklist It‘s Just A Thing Cornbread, Fish & Collard Greens      www.cmykmusik.com Our Rating: 5/10