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A bit disappointing, slower paced, and not as wide-ranging in remix styles as its big sister, Verve Remixed (with Volume 3 being released last month), however, Motown Remixed does contain some incredible worthwhile remixes to justify its purchase. Opening the disc is the amazing Z-Trip reworking of “I Want You Back” by the Jackson 5, complete with jump-stutter Breakbeat drum lines, with an echoed and morphed Michael in his entire pre-freak juvenile splendor. Mocean Worker (aka Adam Dorn) makes a cameo on the Rare Earth classic, “I Just Want to Celebrate” which sees him chopping and splicing the vocal lines with skill, laying down a funky, crisp drum line, then dropping in some over-the-top scratching in just the right places to raise the roof just a few inches more. DJ Smash gives the Stevie Wonder single “Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I’m Yours” a housey, kicking punch, with syrupy guitars and horns, while DJ Jazzy Jeff and Pete Kuzma add a hip-hop meets San Fran House smooth-as-hell remix of “Papa Was a Rolling Stone” by The Temptations. Other noteworthy remixes include King Britt’s uber-soulful tripped-out take on “War” by Edwin Starr and the deep bass funk of DJ Green Lantern’s version of “Mary Jane” by Rick James which is included as a bonus track. However, the ultimate nod to Motown, and one of the single best remixes of this type that I have ever heard, goes to Hotsnax for their UK Nu-Breaks hyper-addictive remix of “The Tears of a Clown” by one of personal all-time favorite singers, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles. Hotsnax gets the star in class today, children. -- review by Carl Noone, Jr.
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