This song greeted my ears one cold(ish) morning this week and made me want to take a break from my love of all things gritty and rainy (England) for some pure, unadulterated sunshine. Which is exactly what that track is. I fell in love with the sunny, Puerto Rican flavored sounds of the original when I saw the brilliant, dance inspiring iPod commercial. It was to my delight when I found out that it was by none other than the good folks over at Wonderwheel - Nickodemus and his buddy Quantic, who has a knack for making world beats for white people. The original is stupidly cheerful enough, but the remix, which kicks off a highly enjoyable 10th anniversary CD drove it home for me.
What inevitably happened was that a bunch of talented musicians were listening to music and smoking far too much weed and came up with the brilliant idea of adding some reggae flavor to the already summery beats and somewhere, in a borough in Brooklyn, this solid remix was born. Blissfully ditching the dubby in favor of classic rocksteady reggae beat good enough to stand alone, Zeb manages to make the tune his own, while still maintaining the unfailingly cheerful vibe as well as commercial appeal. The bright horns get muted a bit, and the song takes on a reggae soul vibe with Latin flavor, kind of like what might happen to Fat Freddy's Drop if they went and took a vacation somewhere in Latin America.
I find it's never just about the song - it's about the whole chain reaction of events that lead up to the song and are triggered by the song. In the case of this remix (and with a little help from the release of the new Femi Kuti record), that dormant love of reggae and world music that usually only surfaces when I have the good fortune of traveling and getting away from the city has reawakened. It reminded me that amidst the routine, humdrum and stresses of everyday life there are little things that make you smile and take you away.
In the spirit of passing the cheer (the holidays are upon us after all) I've just published my first iMix with a bunch of reggae tunes to get you through the gloom - enjoy!!
Have a listen to the Zeb remix of "Mi Swing Es Tropical" here.
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