Various Artists Sly & Robbie Present Taxi Gang In Disco Mix Style 1978-95 Review by Gary Hill
This is a collection of sounds with mixes done by Sly and Robbie. It's an intriguing set. There's nothing here that doesn't work. A few songs work better than others. All follow the same pattern of having the song proper at the beginning followed by the instrumental remix movement.
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Track by Track Review
Rainy Night In Georgia - Tinga Stewart
Reggae merges with an old school soulful vibe. This is classy stuff. The organ lends something special to it. The extended remix styled thing at the end is cool, too.
Show & Tell - Ken Boothe There is definitely an 80s vibe to this cut. It has a bit of something like Tom Jones, too. Imagine a Motown version of Tom Jones with some reggae in the mix and you'll be in the right territory. I'm not crazy about the song proper, but I do like the remix section at the end.
Break Your Promise - Barry Biggs
I love the old school sound on this. It's part reggae and part Motown ballad. It's also all style and charm. The remix part of this is very percussive and very cool.
Sexual Healing - Jimmy Riley With a lot of reggae built into this, this tune is one of my favorites here. I like it so much. I think the remix section at the end is above the most effective of all of them on this CD, too.
You Must Believe Me - Junior ‘Tamlins’ Moore Much more of a reggae meets old school soul number, this is another highlight of the set. I love how vocals come back at one point during the remix part on this number. I do think that this one goes on a bit too long. It is over eleven and a half minutes long.
Could It Be I’m Falling In Love - Home T-4 Bouncy and classy, this is perhaps a bit more in line with jazzy elements. That said, reggae and soul are still the driving factors here.
Fever - Marcia Griffiths I'm a fan of this tune in general. This version is pretty stripped back with just the voice driving it over a pretty minimal arrangement. I think this works pretty well, but not exceptionally.
Inner City Blues - Delroy Wilson In a lot of ways this is more pure reggae. It's still got some soul and other elements at play, though. It's another solid tune on a consistently effective disc.
