Well it’s been tried before of course with Emerson Lake & Palmer and their predecessor band The Nice. Specifically ELP did their Mussorgsky tribute with their album Pictures At An Exhibition (1971) and Tomita also did it 1975 as an electronic ambient project. And who can forget David Shire’s version of ‘Night On A Bare Mountain’ (as ‘Night On Disco Mountain’) that was on the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack. And then there’s Ravel’s ‘Bolero’ as done to death everywhere (particularly the Torvill and Dean “nightmare”).

So you might not think this is too promising but you’d be wrong as these guys know a remix whether it be techno, jazz (remember Craig’s Detroit Experiment and his Tribe connections) or orchestrated classical music. Also worth noting, even if Gilles Peterson hasn’t any Deutsche Gramaphon albums in his collection, this is the the label for classical recordings (this album is ‘based’ on three pieces from an original recording of the Berlin philharmonic orchestra in 1987 conducted by the acknowledged best in the business, Herbert Von Karajan).

That is itself is quite major as there’s an immense back catalogue of Von Karajan’s works alone; it’s a match made in heaven when they decided to recompose one Classic FM hits of Maurice Ravel’s ‘Bolero’, ‘Rapsodie Espagnola’ and Modest Mussorgsky’s ‘Bilder Einer Ausstellung’.

Very much like you’d expect, this is like Tangerine Dream working on a classical album mostly in a dark foreboding minimal area. So hypnotic it is, you can’t help yourself listening to it again and again. I can even stand the ‘Bolero’ theme build up that would normally irritate the “1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo” out of me. If you’re more impatient, go direct to ‘Movement 4’ for some techno dub echo stuff from the basement.

‘Movement 5’ gets to the point much quicker and are more dance orientated classical techno (what!) whilst ‘Movement 6’ is a dark percussive exploration. I think this going to start a trend as there already seems to be some sort of meeting of minds where Steve Reich is connected to Hebden/Reid’s NYC at one extreme and the incredible work of Carlos Niño/Miguel Atwood Ferguson with the orchestral interpretations of J Dilla’s finest work on the Suite For Ma Dukes EP (if your be in the LA area on February 22nd, get yourself to the Harriet and Charles Luckman Fine Arts Complex for a 36-piece orchestral performance where Dilla’s mother, Maureen Yancey will be in attendance).

Like Dilla, Craig is a fellow native of Detroit, leading musical trendsetter and with ReComposed his reputation continues to be enhanced. The album has been described as “a hypnotic sound which brings together the worlds of classical and electronic music in a truly innovative project”. You can’t argue with that as this is inspirational and essential.

P.S. And keepin’ it vinyl, there’s a very minimal Ricardo Villalobos remix on 12” with a second Craig mix of ‘Movement 8’ that’s much in demand and rather excellent.

Reviewed: Carl Craig & Moritz von Oswald - ReComposed (Deutsche Grammophon/Universal Music Classics & Jazz) Cat. No. 4766912 Release date: 23rd February 2009 -Original Music by Maurice Ravel: Bolero, Rapsodie espagnole & Modest Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition recorded by Berliner Philharmoniker, Herbert von Karajan (original recordings) / Berlin, Philharmonie, 12/1985 (Bolero); 2/1986 (Pictures); 2/1987 (Rapsodie)
Tracklisting
Maurice Ravel:
1 Intro (6:23)
2 Movement 1 (2:26)
3 Movement 2 (7:30)
4 Movement 3 (8:34)
5 Movement 4 (8:06)
Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky:
6 Interlude (4:09)
Maurice Ravel, Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky:
7 Movement 5 (12:56)
8 Movement 6 (14:12)

Links:
www.myspace.com/carlcraig
22nd November 2008: East Village & Afronaut present CARL CRAIG @ East Village - It doesn’t get much nicer than this. A relatively small venue and a respectably huge name! Carl Craig, the legendary techno producer from detroit joins Afronaut, Andy Bird and Stu Patterson for what will be a massive and memorable night at the Village! www.eastvillageclub.com
www.soundsoftheuniverse.com
1984: British ice couple score Olympic gold
Gilles Peterson :: 20 November 2008 :: Talks to Raphael Saadiq
Carl Craig & Moritz Von Oswald - Movement 6 (Deutsche Grammophon)
Gilles Peterson :: 13 November 2008 :: GP Soul Inspired Mix
The Detroit Experiment - ‘Think Twice’ (Henrik Schwarz Remix) (CDR)
www.mochilla.com
www.stonesthrow.com/news/2009/02/suite-for-ma-dukes