It's been almost five months now since Black Tie Dynasty first announced its breakup, leaving its fans confused and its haters feeling validated (an unfortunate, but everpresent part of the band's history).
But one person in particular was especially miffed: Picnictyme, the local producer/MC (formerly of PPT), who, in the months leading up to Black Tie Dynasty's final release, Down Like Anyone, had been working on a behind-the-scenes remix project with BTD frontman Cory Watson. With the band announcing its breakup just as Picnic was in the throes of working on the five-song remix EP, though, a whole lot of his inspiration to finish the project got squashed. And, as such, the project got shelved.
Until now...
Today, over on his web site, Picnic has posted the final version of the remix EP, where it's now available for download. And, better yet, it's free.
It's a fun listen for BTD fans, for sure, hearing Picnic's electro-hip-hop updates on the band's New Wave-influenced sound. In fact, it kinda pushes the whole thing into some serious dancehall territory, so much so that it's a fun listen even for those who weren't exactly partial to BTD.
For the curious, the remixed tracks include: "Lay Low," "Cruel Canopy," "Against The Wall," and an unreleased song called "Joyless." And then there's a fifth track, an also until-now unreleased collaboration just between Picnic and BTD frontman Waston called "Brickwall."
I'm still processing it myself, but on first listen, it's a fresh, welcome update to a disc that I actually enjoyed a good deal more than I thought I would. Will I like this one even more? Tough to say, but the early returns are looking like a hearty "yes."
So, y'know, go download that sucker. Now.
