Most remixes are done for a quick buck -- slap on a bunch of reverb, stretch things with some delay, maybe drive the whole mess with a new drum track. Whatever. "Illuminated Audio," however, an ambient remix of Ethiopian-born singer Gigi Shababaw's self-titled 2001 debut, is a pleasant exception.
"Illuminated," constructed by remix master Bill Laswell, is looser and more spacious than the original, densely layered album, which featured Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter and Pharoah Sanders as well as a host of Ethiopian percussionists. Rather than being propelled by a churning rhythm section and Gigi's powerful vocals, sung in Amharic, the national language of Ethiopia, listeners will float through the remixes with pleasant liquid ease. Commenting on his approach, Laswell, who also produced and played bass on the original album, explained that he was trying to show another side of the music by emphasizing elements that were originally more understated: "[The original] is put together in a way that fits, but a lot of things that I featured in the remix weren't as audible in the original."
Take, for instance, the remix version of "Tew Ante Sew," which puts the two guitar tracks up front. In the original, these tracks lived deep in the mix as parts of a much larger rhythmic organism. With some space cleared around them, the guitars relax, stretch out and groove in a new way. Likewise with the saxophone. On the original, Gigi's singing rides atop the mix, the sax cresting only occasionally. On the remix, with her vocals pared way down, the sax stands front and center. Fans of the original album might be alarmed by the absence of Gigi's vocals -- but Laswell says that's the way she wanted it, telling him, "Don't use the vocals because it's already been done." As such, Gigi's voice here is more akin to brush strokes and her presence passes through the mix in an ethereal way, never staying long but moving us while she's there.