mixtape maestro (2.0)

It’s kind of sad that not even the catalog of a legend like Nat King Cole is impervious to modern day re-tinkerings, but a single listen to this cut from the recently released Re: Generations (which dishes out Cole tunes as tweaked by the likes of The Roots, will.i.am, TV On The Radio, Damian Marley, Cut Chemist and Just Blaze amongst others) suddenly had us excited about what other creative nuggets the project had to offer.

Here, Nat’s popular recording of the 1930′s Billy Strayhorn composition “Lush Life” gets a zesty makeover thanks to the behind-the-boards masterwork of Cee-Lo Green. The singing Gnarls Barkley halve surrounds Cole’s pristine croon in a kinetic, ’60′s-tinged mix of groovy bass, starry-eyed ambiance, chopped string samples and itchy drum-funk, creating this beguiling, past-meets-nearer past-meets-present atmosphere that both parents and their hipster offspring could equally appreciate.

DL: “Lush Life (Cee-Lo Remix)” (alt)