Charles Jensen | Writer

This week I am rocking out all day long to this Mark Ronson CD I just bought. Okay, I didn’t buy the CD; I downloaded it from iTunes. Is that still what we say? Let’s say I bought an album. Too, let’s not argue over semantics. Let’s just have a nice time together.

Anyway, the Ronson album is sort of loungey/go-go/disco/funk. It includes “revisions” of some songs I love like The Smith’s “Stop Me” as a jangling disco number, Britney Spears’s “Toxic” as an Amy Winehouse-like rap-infused number, and Radiohead’s “Just” as it might have been interpreted by the Jackson 5. Coldplay’s “God Put a Smile Upon Your Face” gets retooled as a swingin’ lounge tune sans lyrics, and Winehouse herself shows up to sing the track “Valerie.” Other great guests on the tracks include saucy Lily Allen, Phantom Planet, Kasabian, and the frequently nude and always delicious Robbie Williams.

I love a good remake, remix, revision. I don’t know why. I like to hear mindless pop songs find new depth, new rhythms, new faces. I think it’s nice to make old things new again. It’s a tribute. It’s not an offense. It’s a beautiful thing.