Gee & Tee – Gil In Dub

It’s been said spring can be revolutionary – and when it comes to Gil Scott Heron’s music, ‘The Revolution Will Not Be Televised’ came out in April 1974 ‚ while ‘B-Movie’ came out in March 1981  – two special and very political tracks.

In these times of political unrest, these classic tunes ring as true as they did half a century ago – their blasé laid-back acuity only seem sharpened by today’s events.

Tackling such milestones as “B-Movie” and “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised” can be tricky, but Guillaume Metenier & Slikk Tim not only have been producing music together for years, but most importantly are on the same page when it comes to personal convictions.

“We felt like we couldn’t just do a quick dub of these tunes and chicken out on the political aspect of the music”, says Tim. “As we started to work out different ideas, it became evident the meaning of the tunes were dead-on with the realities of our time”.

‘B-Movie’ — here reworked as “Nothin’ But Bad TV” — is a perfect example, the new lyrics echoing the bizarre similarities between yesterday’s US president with today’s one. “We played that one pretty close to the original as the vocal parrallel felt right , but the dub version takes it a step further”, says Guillaume.

‘The Revolution…’ is a different affair, going for a heavyweight, stripped-down arrangement, brooding with intensity — the vocal restrained here to a heartfelt acknowledgement of Scott-Heron’s spirit amidst the controlled sonic chaos.

“We took our time to make sure we would approach these works in a real way. Of course , we don’t share Scott-Heron’s hardships — but when it comes to his attitude, we wanted to be all the way with it, from the music to the meaning”, concludes Tim. “And then even if you remove the words — you still get the message across”.