You know what I hate? I hate when people say covers or remixes of an artist's music is sacrilege. Y'know, just get over it. How much more of an imbecile can you really become when you start calling things sacrilege? What an uptight, bone- headed, pompous thing to say. But you just can't help some people out-- they're too far gone.

Now that we've established that, let's move on to something else I hate. I hate when people say that an artist has sold out. Oh, okay. Just because they're not making the exact same kind of music they used to. Yeah, an artist decides to move in a new direction and explore new musical territory, thereby transforming themselves into pure evil. Now, it's true that Miles Davis readily admitted to trying to appeal to a larger audience with his 1970s electric music. But arguably, Davis produced some of his best music during that phase. When you're a musical genius, maybe playing the same style of music for four decades gets a little tedious.

Contrary to popular belief, Bill Laswell's reconstruction and remixing of some of Miles Davis' 1970s- period electric jazz isn't sacrilege. It's Panthalassa: The Music of Miles Davis (1969-1974), and it makes an excellent listen. If you're a fan of Davis' 70s- era material, this is gonna sound pretty good to you. Laswell's softened up some of the more abrasive horn solos and given the music a more chilled- out kind of vibe.

Panthalassa consists of four tracks, each seamlessly mixing together classics like "In A Silent Way," "It's About That Time," "Black Satin," and "Billy Preston." It's great background music, it's great foreground music. It's especially nice for long, night- time cruises around the metropolis of your choice, or long, night- time drives during cross- country road trips. In fact, you could listen to Panthalassa at just about any time other than grandma's funeral and it'd fit right into place. Just don't let anyone call it sacrilege.

-Ryan Schreiber