Lounged Out Homage To The Beatles CD

When songs are written as sturdily as the acknowledged classics in the Beatles songbook, it's possible to bend them and shape them into new forms and styles without losing the inherent strengths of the material. This is hardly a secret, and there have been countless tributes to the Beatles that have cast the group's songs into all manner of parallel universes from classical to bluegrass to reggae, and even the surviving Beatles themselves have sanctioned such revisits, approving the remixing and mashing up of Beatles tracks for the surprisingly fresh and bright-sounding LOVE album from 2006. Which brings us to this set put together by Italian producer and remixer Giacomo Bondi. Bondi used the Apple Pies, an Italian Beatles cover band, to record faithful versions of several Beatles songs done through vintage period instruments and amplifiers, and then took these facsimiles apart and reconstructed them into "new" mixes. In other words, this is essentially the LOVE project one step (and a very vital step -- using the Apple Pies in place of the Beatles) removed. The end result is intriguing for maybe 40 seconds. It's like building a scale model of the Taj Mahal out of toothpicks. One is amazed at the detail and effort involved, but in the end, what real utility does it have? Think you need remixes of Beatles songs? Then get LOVE. ~ Steve Leggett

Tributee: The Beatles.

Personnel: Giacomo Bondi (celesta); The Apple Pies (bass guitar).