(Ministry Of Sound)

Taking the idea of rejigging somebody else’s song to another level

Unique? That’s a big call. But then, the Ministry Of Sound has both the pedigree and the chutzpah to carry it off, if anybody can. And they’ve pulled out all the stops here, cramming a generous 43 tracks on to two discs. For the local version of this release, they’ve made some modifications, for example, dropping Sly & Robbie’s take on Michael Jackson’s Billie Jean to make room for Sarah Blasko’s version of Crowded House’s Don’t Dream It’s Over, then shuffled the tracks around. The element of surprise, though, is weakened a little by the use of several older, more familiar tracks – Faith No More’s cover of The Commodores’ Easy, Frente’s reworking of New Order’s Bizarre Love Triangle (one of only two acts, by the way, to score two covers here, the other being Daft Punk). But then there are a few left-field inclusions to counter these – Israeli singer Yael Naim with a jazz-tinged, helium-filled remake of Britney Spear’s Toxic and PJ Pooterhoots’ cool-groove rendering of Hall & Oates’ No Go. Or how about Groove Armada tackling Gary Numan’s Are “Friends” Electric? Or The Prodigy beating up (in more ways than one) The Specials’ Ghost Town? Throw in some real curiosities – Brazil’s Seu Jorge mellowing out David Bowie’s Rebel Rebel in Portuguese, for instance – and you could say this has got all bases, er, covered.          

*** ½

BILL HOLDSWORTH

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