Sugar Free Jazz - Soul Coughing

The Sugar Free Jazz remixes, all by Omni Trio, Mad Professor, and Dougie Digital, are unexpectedly tired, uninteresting cuts, with the exception of "Molasses Dub." Here, Mad Professor manages to rise above the mundane by tossing a reggae backbeat and steady groove into the existing jazz-laced, avant-garde brew. The other jungle dub/techno takes on the title cut fare poorly, proving that dance-oriented remixes aren't suited for just any song. Track five, the album version of "Sugar Free Jazz," stands as the most appealing cut on the disc, followed by a live rendition of the neo-beatnik "Screenwriter's Blues." Originally released on the band's 1994 debut, Ruby Vroom, this groovy cut of "Blues" was recorded during a May 2, 1995 performance for KCRW-FM's "Morning Becomes Eclectic." It features segments that were worked into "The Brooklynites," a composition found only on the Blue in the Face film soundtrack. ~ David Ross Smith, All Music Guide