Some might suggest that Paul McCartney is searching to remain relevant with McCartney III Reimagined. The vocals get fuzzed out and there are more than a few synth grooves going on, yet when you start getting restless you know the song has gone on more a tad too long. The additional time added to the piece doesn’t help improve it. Originally the song dealt with what needed to be done on his Surrey farm, yet the revamp feels a bit more like the American west coast.ģD from Massive Attack spends more than 11 minutes on his version of “Deep Deep Feeling,” yet along the way you get the feeling that he’s lost the script.
Paak spent their time tweaking “When Winter Comes”. This was the one truly weak track on the original collection and it fares no better now.
Josh Homme gets the unfortunate task of working with “Lavatory Lil.” No matter how hard he tries there’s not much you can do. At times moody and mysterious, it wouldn’t be out of place on the latest Gorillaz disc. Damon Albarn fiddles more than a bit with “Long Tailed Winter Bird, adding a bit of McCartney vocals to the previously instrumental track. It’s a rifferama proving that age is simply a number. Phoebe Bridgers takes her share of liberties with “Seize the Day,” giving it a huge, wide-screen sound while the vocals sound more like Bridgers than McCartney.īut if you’re looking for a truly huge sound, Radiohead’s Ed O’Brien and Paul Epworth (as EOB) remix “Slidin’.” Starting with bass and guitar that sound more like something from Queens of the Stone Age or The Move, the screaming vocals are matched by a huge, fuzzed out backing track. It’s another cosmic trip that turns up a winner.
Hynes creates a template that combines jazzy piano with Hendrixian backwards sounding guitar. The combination of Blood Orange (in actuality Dev Hynes) and Macca is a match made in heaven. A growling sax, otherworldly harmonies and a warped guitar solo with a bluesy bent work their magic rather well. Vincent’s remix of “Women and Wives” is set in a mysterious noirish fantasyland. One of the things you begin to realize with these remixes is how McCartney’s voice speaks to so many different people. Moving back and forth in time between the swinging ‘60s and a chilled out 21st century, McCartney sounds like a generational voyager charting a course for a new era of exploration.
PAUL MCCARTNEY MCCARTNEY FULL
The three use their essential dub groove and psychedelic treatments to full effect. Khruangbin sets McCartney’s “Pretty Boys” on a tour of the cosmos via the wilds of Texas. It’s a total triumph simply because Fike doesn’t look at any part of the song as being untouchable. The melody gets treated to a number of variations, playing not only with McCartney’s voice, but making the original backing track almost unrecognizable. On the other hand, Dominic Fike gently blows the doors off “The Kiss of Venus” by taking the track where no man has gone before. No bad thing, just not the boldest opening statement you could make. Beck’s version of “Find My Way” ups the percussion factor, but at the end of the day it does tend to sound like McCartney doing Beck. Some collaborators were more intimidated than others. Now if there’s one thing you don’t want to mess with it’s gotta be the bass. It asks the question, “what do you say when a former Beatle asks you to remix one of his songs?” Being such a legendary figure, saying no is really not an option. No matter what category you fell into, the remixes provide a most interesting addition to his canon. While many raved over his latest solo album, others yawned loudly, implying that at 78, McCartney might be a bit past his expiration date. Paul McCartney pulls off a pretty neat trick on McCartney III Reimagined.