"The Free Design: The Now Sound Redesigned"

Twenty-one of the bigger names in independent music can be and probably have been wrong, but they're spot on with The Now Sound Redesigned,a remix project that can rightly be called an event. The relevant backstory: in the late 1960s and early 1970s, the four Dedrick siblingscreated some beautifully constructed and legitimately awe-inspiringsunshine pop over a five year period. Never garnering commercialsuccess, the Dedricks called it quits in 1972, leaving their creationsto languish in obscurity forever, but for the LPs purchased second-handby vinyl junkies and fanatical crate diggers.

Light in the Attic

Finding what they heard—soaring melodies, lovely harmonics and cleverarrangements, with top notch production and instrumentation—was amazingin both sonic quality and the fact it was unknown, they all broke thecardinal rule of vinyl digging and shared what they heard. Thepopularity spread slowly but surely until it reached the ears ofSharpshooters and Belle & Sebastian alike. Now, with the FreeDesign catalogue reissued and available on CD, the remix EPs it spawnedare collected and issued here as The Now Sound Redesigned.To wit,most various artists remix collections fall under the category ofirrelevant barely-assed pap. Not so here. The efforts arebilled—correctly—as reinterpretations, with significant changes insound andstructure, sometimes within a track, while retaining strong similarityto the source material.

The new songs are as different as theircreators: Madlib's cut has a signature chopped drum and Yesterday's NewQuintet-esque keyboard loop on top of the 30 year old harmonies;Stereolab offers their own soaring bridges and sunshine-splashed hooksto complement the Dedrick original. MURS nearly tips the boat byplaying the social consciousness card (bummer) but is rescued by DangerMouse's trippy understated backbeat. Other notables on hand includeStones Throw sensei Peanut Butter Wolf—his hand in yet anothermusical archeology project—serving up a high energy Moog-drivensoulride. While any rehashed tune will lack the original's passion anddirection, not one of the 19 tracks feels tired, nor do they want forenergy or purpose. And there's enough sonic variety to please nearlyany conceivable listener, save perhaps the honky-tonk or death metalsets.

All the remixes hold their own, but they pale in comparison tothe original stuff, teases of which serve as interludes. This,  morethan anything else speaks to the validity of the album's exercise andthe vitality of the very nearly-forgotten sound. The Free Design Redesignedwill never break any sales records and will be lucky garner significantradio airplay, but it wasn't meant to. Every non-Philistine who plugsinto the Free Design's sounds won't be able to resist the music. If thewell-known names here turn a few more heads onto the Dedricks, all thebetter. Happy crate-digging.

samples:

• Peanut Butter Wolf - Umbrellas
• Stereolab & the High Llams - Harve Daley Mix
• The Free Design - Light My Fire