Supertonic: Mixes can be disregarded on principle as pointless, as yet another batch of contemporary club makeovers that couldn't possibly surpass the originals. On the contrary, there's at least an eager audience for such a project. When it was released, four of the nine tracks had already topped Billboard's club chart, claiming the kind of record that no one likely thought to look up or even think up beforehand (most are consecutive number one remixes of number one hits, touted by the
Motown caretakers at
Universal). In addition to providing the edits of those remixes -- "Ain't No Mountain High Enough," "I'm Coming Out/Upside Down," "The Boss," and "Love Hangover" -- there are new versions of five other
Ross classics, ranging chronologically from "Remember Me" (1970) to "It's My House" (1979). Each remix, dutiful and concise, is tasteful house that detracts only slightly from the rich musicality of the source material. The original multi-track master recordings are the foundation, modernized with minimal flash and drum programming that doesn't bludgeon. More importantly,
Ross' voice is never removed from the spotlight, and
Kupper even preserves
Ashford & Simpson's background vocals. Issued with identical track lists for download/streaming, CD, and vinyl, this was no doubt put together with the last format in mind, as the duration is only 35 minutes, designed for front-to-back home listening. ~ Andy Kellman
