Pitched down, slowed down, and given the right level of pitch-black atmospherics, Rich Fayden offers a thoughtful take on an old-school track with “Don’t Be Cruel.” Initially, a Billboard Hot 100 chart track back in 1988, Bobby Brown’s interpretation had a dexterity to it, even a bit of lightness despite the heavier noes of the lyricism. Here, Fayden takes the classic and turns it into a true force of nature. The song starts the rhythm off with a dub-tinged techno quality. But something evil lingers, baked into the production itself. A noir-like…
