Most Popular
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An ancient Apollo statue landed in Cleveland and touched off an international outcry
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Joe Cimperman hopes to tear down his former hero, Dennis Kucinich
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Beat Down
Cleveland teachers swap stories of school violence.
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Everybody Hates Mike
The peril of coaching an icon.
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Secret Valentines Notes from C-Town Celebs
Our I-Team uncovered the private love letters of Cleveland's biggest names. You'll be shocked by what we discovered.
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$100 Bounty on That Kid (19)
Copley-Fairlawn finds a way to keep the impostors out.
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At Indie-Rock Singles Night in Cleveland, an event for hipsters lacks one key ingredient: Hipsters (15)
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Dennis Kucinich’s brave talk about working and fighting — from the safety of the officer’s tent (10)
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Beat Down (3)
Cleveland teachers swap stories of school violence.
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An ancient Apollo statue landed in Cleveland and touched off an international outcry (3)
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Crazy Talk
Miranda Lambert is a lot like any other girl with a soft spot for guns and setting exes on fire.
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The Bravery's New World
New-wave revivalists discover the power of three-chord guitar rock.
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Beer, BBQ, industry schmoozing: Rounding up SXSW 2008’s local delegates
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Keep on Truckin'
Jason Isbell finds life after the Drive-By Truckers.
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It took them 10 years, but the Sadies finally craft a country-rock classic
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Hello, Cleveland: The Week’s Concert Calendar
01:12PM 03/10/08 -
Carl Monday’s back, and he’s not better than ever, which makes us sad
08:14AM 03/10/08 -
A gentle proposal to Cleveland sports fans: Quit bitching and enjoy it
07:29AM 03/10/08 -
In Minnesota, smoking ban no match for local thespians. Why didn’t we think of that?!
07:01AM 03/10/08 -
Joyce Banjac may be Myers University's best hope
05:29AM 03/10/08
What we are writing about
- Black Sabbath
- Bob Dylan
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Recent Articles By Keith Gribbins
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Circa Survive
With Ours and the Dear Hunter. Sunday, November 25, at the Agora Ballroom.
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Cedar Valley Settlers Celebration & Music Festival
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Cleveland Americana Festival
Featuring the Tabloid Twangers, California Speedbag, the Silvertones, Hayshaker Jones, Miss Firecracker, Bobby Lanphier, Bill Crompton, and the Cleveland Country Band. Sunday, September 2, at Parish Hall, Ohio City.
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Houseguest
With the Royal Bangs and We the They. Friday, August 10, at the Lime Spider, Akron.
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Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
With Jesse Malin. Monday, August 6, at House of Blues.
National Features
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Houston Press
"It Was Like an Armageddon Movie"
For days after Hurricane Rita, a Texas prison was hell on earth.
By Chris Vogel -
SF Weekly
The Candidate
Our columnist knows Ralph Nader's running mate all too well.
By Matt Smith -
The Pitch
How Not To Be a Rap Star
First of all, lay off the Ecstasy.
By Nadia Pflaum -
Village Voice
Project Runaway
What becomes a gossip columnist most?
By Michael Musto
Shirley Bassey
Diamonds Are Forever -- The Remix Album (Nettwerk)
By Keith Gribbins
Published: February 22, 2001
Beat diggers and sample addicts have been grafting Miss Shirley Bassey's sly grooves and blustery orchestrations to their electronic productions for several years now. The Tigress from Tiger Bay nurtured beats and harmonies that fueled jazz pop into a new transcendence of panache in the '60s and '70s, redefining glamour pop with massive arrangements, crafty urban rhythms, and deep vocals that embedded quivers in the spinal fluids of listeners -- and conceiving a musical wellspring for the future of DJ designs, including this remix compilation Diamonds Are Forever.
The Propellerheads used Bassey's booming libretto three years ago with "History Repeating," a track featured on the There's Something About Mary soundtrack. So it made sense when Propellerhead Alex Gifford selected the diva's most notorious score -- the James Bond number "Goldfinger," in which a devious funk guitar sample and beat laid the groundwork for John Barry's mammoth horn arrangement and Bassey's golden bravado -- as the track he would remix. AwayTeam kicks off the album appropriately with "Where Do I Begin," the theme from Love Story -- on it, a heavy bassline is dropped on a Tony Bennett-style swing chorus. Kenny "Dope" Gonzalez, of Masters at Work, remixes "Light My Fire" into a downtempo drum assault before Twelftree brings big beat mania to the same track on the "Lady's Mix." Nightmares on Wax's George Evelyn lays down a minimal hip-hop beat and key sample on "Easy Thing to Do," giving Bassey's voice free range to paint the perfect chilled jazz fantasy. Even Groove Armada's "Never Never Never" and DJ Skymoo's trance anthem "If You Go Away," both of which sound routine, can't harm this rebirth of style. Diamonds re-ignites Bassey's stellar reputation, resurrecting her career for the next century with a momentous reworking.
