Future Islands - Seasons (BADBADNOTGOOD remix)

It'd be nice to think of BADBADNOTGOOD as a Toronto band but I don't think the world sees them that way.  Although Matthew Tavares (keys), Chester Hansen (bass), and Alexander Sowinski (drums/ pig mask) were born here and met at the Humber College jazz program which has turned out a lot of good players and a lot of shit ones too.  As the oft told story goes they inspired by their love of prolific underground rappers like Lil B and more known artists like MFDoom and the Odd Future collective they thatched together a medley of Odd future songs for a playing test.  Their professors deemed the work of 'no musical value'.  Once Tyler The Creator saw the video they posted on youtube as the Odd Future Sessions Part 1 the rest was history (they followed with Odd Future Sessions 2 GOBLIN).   Only one is enrolled at the College exclusively for the dental benefits.  Without a doubt all of them will make more in their lifetimes as their own group, backing and producing other musicians and rappers than any of their dimwit professors.

By now they've backed Tyler Creator, the piano-illiterate Frank Ocean, created and composed music for the RZA's kungsploitation flick The Man With The Iron Fists.  They've put out two free mixtapes (you can download them free here- BBNG and BBNG2).  They've put out two live albums (BBNGLive1 and BBNGLive2) in addition to this year's proper full length III (2014).  They put out a track with Danny Brown and Ghostface Killah (Six Degrees) and word shortly dropped that they'd be backing Ghostface Killah (who has strong ties to Toronto through Raekwon and others) on a new album in 2015 called Sour Soul (the first track released was Gunshowers feat. legendary Detroit rapper Elzhi). 

One critic Jerell Tongson described excellently the BBNG sound writing that they "deconstruct the four bar loops, understanding how to work crescendos by stretching out and reshaping the music into their own vision of silky smooth key progressions, pounding drums, and tasty bass lines".   Now they've been given a brilliant opportunity to remix the song of 2014 Future Island's Seasons.  One dim critic described their sound on the Seasons remix as "a sort of cinematic jazz, to the extent that it could almost pass for an old James Bond theme."  No.  The sound they've clearly adoped for the Sour Soul sessions is just that- Soul- even more specifically an updated Funk Bros. or Stax Soul sound which is the perfect instrumental backdrop for Ghostface's dusty boom bap.  Call it GhoStax.  The Future Island's Seasons remix is cast in the same vein leaving the complete vocal intact but coming up with a soul backing line and melody progression that completely reinvents the song.  Things like this don't happen very often in remixes.  It's a magical thing.