The May 2003 marked of Black Cherry with 12 ripe tracks with 10 new licks added to the album. The ethereally sticky sounds of “Deep Honey” (track 5) intrigue the ears and tease the brain to a delightful Theta wave state. The next track, “Hairy Trees” is a tremendous branching out from “Deep Honey.” The back to back tracks go from plea to shiny sea. Without the cued break in the CD, you would think the licks are the same mix. In many ways, this album is a tripped out analogy of Winnie the Pooh. Except in Black Cherry, Christopher Robbins really learns what is to be a man who likes bears who like Deep Honey. Track 7, “Twist” is rooted in sexual fantasy with a heated plea to a targeted naughty carnie. With honey sweet solicitation, Alison requests or better yet demands, “put your dirty angel face between my legs and knicker lace.” Goldfrapp’s Black Cherry was unofficially popped for it’s Denver debut at the Compound. DJ Zac Reclipze (zacreclipze.com) twirled tantalized Compound herds when he turn-tabled the tawdry Black Cherry track “Twist” with great titillation. Black Cherry is an unapologetic and elegant heterodox album of songs which deems Goldfrapp and Gregory as a new provocative tour de force in the evolution of intelligent music.

Venerable Verve Records is again re-vibing themselves with a vivacious August 2003 release of Verve Remixed2. Vibrant producers, Dahlia Ambach Caplin and Jason Olaine, have created a virtual “nu-Jazz Verve Revival” reverberating from the saucy and sassy nu-Jazz vibes of their first Verve Remixed (2002). VR2 doesn’t miss a beat of the original Verve Remixed. They veneer classic jazz bench marks performed by the best songsmiths and inlay nu-Jazz stylings remixed by the brightest beat masters like Chicago’s Felix da Housecat and New York underground beat king DJ Spinna.

Ambach Caplin and Olaine envisioned a variant remixed Verve and reengineered it to produce a 14 track collection available on CD AND vinyl. Verve Remixed2 relive revived divas like Ella Fitzgerald, Carmen McCrae, Nina Simone, Sarah Vaughn (my personal fav), and a few others from their first version. But VR2 recaptures seven more “original” artists than VR1. More importantly, a new dynamic dyad of dj’s and musicers kibbitzed to reinvent a virtual Verve remix.

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