Mark Ronson: Version

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Elly Roberts reviews

Mark Ronson: Version
Distributed by
Sony/Columbia

    Cover

  • April 2007
  • Rating: 10/10

At the moment, Mark Ronson seems unstoppable.

If there was ever a threat to Fat Boy Slim’s crown, then he is it!

When you’ve got friends like Amy Winehouse (he produced her hit album Back ToBlack last year), Lily Allen (who ironically went head to head at the Brits2007 – Amy won of course) you know you’ve made it. Both drop by to put a smileon Mark Ronson’s face. Robbie Williams and Kasabian give a bit of hand too,along with lesser known names.

By the sound of this brilliant album, they did the trick. Uber Anglo –American DJ Ronson, 29, turns producer-performer once again, as he tries hisluck with an album of covers, with sensational results. His treatment (orbouncing) is sparkling and bold to say the least, which will surely bring anomination for one of the albums of the year.

Boosting the potential sales of the album, lead single Stop Me (a re-inventionof The Smith’s album track Stop Me If You’ve Heard This One Beforefrom 1987) went to No.2 in the UK singles chart (w/c April 16th). And that’swhere this scintillating album becomes a winner – respectful re-invention isat the heart of everything here. When ex-Smiths’ Morrissey gave his blessing,Ronson was over the moon.

Ronson has a clever ear – you need one to be a top DJ – so his love of bothrock and dance fuse magnificently. Needless to say, the hard work (i.e.songwriting) has been done by others, though these interpretations have beenwell thought out, with Ronson saying, “It started off with a Radioheadtrack ‘Just’. I hadn’t even thought of doing covers before, but that did wellover here – even Thom Yorke went on Radio 1 and said he loved it. BasicallyI’ve taken these well known songs – plus some lesser know ones – and turnedthem into Motown stax 70’s versions.”

His eclectic taste shines throughout the tracklisting starting with a blazingsax-driven Northern Soul take on Coldplay’s God Put A Smile Upon Your Face,which segues into funky Oh My God featuring gobby Londoner Lily Allen.Single Stop Me follows and it’s worth every bit of its 3 mins 58 secs,with Daniel Merriweather’s stylish vocals oozing with class.

On Valerie, a hit for Scouers The Zutons, Winehouse does what she doesbest, cocksure attacks with the song virtually turned into a Tamla Motownshuffle (next single for sure). Other highlights includes a virtuallyunrecognisable Pretty Green (The Jam) which turns into a ’60s girlyblast with dropped – in sound FX and sliding brass that, again, would makea great single.

Unfortunately, Robbie Williams’ contribution on The Only One I Knowcould have been much better, as his vocals sound almost ghostly thin, thoughKasabian fair much better on LSF.

Mark adds, “I Keep the up-most respect and appreciation and appreciationfor the original versions of songs I use. I’m just trying to find somethingin it, add something to the arrangement or change the groove.”

Job done – and how.

Weblinks:markronson.co.uk /youtube.com/markronson

The full list of tracks included are :

1. God Put A Smile Upon Your Face ft The Daptone Horns
2. Oh My God ft Lilly Allen
3. Stop Me ft Daniel Merriweather
4. Toxic ft Ol’ Dirty Bastard & Tiggers
5. Valerie ft Amy Winehouse
6. Apply Some Pressure ft Paul Smith
7. Inversion
8. Pretty Green ft Santo Gold
9. Just ft Phantom Planet
10. Amy ft Kenna
11. The Only One I Know ft Robbie Williams
12. Diversion
13. LSF ft Kasabian
14. Outversion

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