With a vocal and dub version of the Prince classic, this is sheer class without a hint of cover-version irony. The phattest bass since Dillinja and the production values of Theo Parrish! More class from Tempa.
Salim Rafiq Sound Off
The first part of this CD encapsulates the Fuel Records sound, with 12 tracks mixed by Fuel god Salim Rafiq. For those unfamiliar with this unique brand of breakbeat, expect minimal, bass-heavy breaks that ooze with a style that’s rarely duplicated by producers outside of the Fuel camp. To mitigate this lack of reproduction, the second half of the CD features 22 audio samples and snippets of tweaky bass drops for you to slice, dice and enjoy in your own studio. Will we hear this sound spread more in the future? Not a bad thought.
Kerri Chandler Trionisphere
Kerri Chandler gets profoundly inside a groove and turns it inside out, with rich, bottom-heavy bass lines and sparse jazz melodies. He creates danceable moments of darkness infused with his NJ-native, garage-influenced, deep house perspective. Chandler’s latest release, Trionisphere, much like many of the other legendary sonic productions he’s most noted for, especially The Atmosphere EP, is a spiritual journey in sound. This man will take you to church on the dancefloor, and with the push of a button imbue you with the Holy Spirit. Opening with “Tribe of the Night,” Chandler transports you back to those acid-house glory days, and the bouncy Latin rhythm and stuttering Afrobeat snares of “Coro” inspire you to jump up and testify. Overall, each tune is drenched with a hypnotic soulful quality. At times, though, the jazz tinges cause this offering to sound a little too laidback, but it’s never boring.
Beyond Hip-Hop
XLR8R has always been about introducing our readers to the future of music. With that in mind, we feature two young geniuses on the cover, Prefuse 73 and Madlib. Also in this double header: Mr. Lif, the ultimate guide to New York house 1983-2003, Lady Saw, Sticky, Mike Grant, visual artist Kenzo Minami, Mira Calix, Fingathing‘s Tour Diary, Final Scratch faces its competition, and much more.
Ricchie Hawtin Haardtrax Vol. III
For its 80th release, Plus 8 offers up the previously unreleased follow-up to the Hardtrax series from 1994. With this EP, Hawtin created a bleepy, deep, minimal four-tracker that still sounds fresh as the morning dew. After spending a decade in the vault, these tracks are a great addition to the Hawtin fan’s collection.
Various Jack to the Future
There are certain obvious links between the past and the present: the road paved by the Rolling Stones for the Strokes is an obvious example. Then there’s the Duchamp-Warhol connection. Other associations, however, aren’t always so easily discernible. Here, the evolution of house is summarized by producers like H?kan Lidbo, Misc. and Rob Acid, who all throw down previously unreleased tracks that blend the details of the modern micro sound with the luscious and pulsating hedonism of early dance music. What you get is a conscious and playful reference to the nights when Chicago pounded its collective fist around the world.
Bad Company Grunge 3 (Dieselboy & Kaos & Karl K Remix)
Searing mechanical madness results when Philly’s drum & bass soldiers turn Bad Co.’s “Grunge” into an opus of punching snares, punishing bass, and tons of sick buildups and breakdowns. On the flip, Hive preserves the uplifting intro of “Mass Hysteria” before dropping the track into pounding techno madness and pulling it back out into a hype, bouncy, bass-filled booty-mover. Both remixes show these artists giving BC a run for their money. Slamming!
Stakka Intransit
Pounding dancefloors like a meat cleaver, the latest offering from Stakka finds hard techno sounds charging out of the speakers. Crisp and punchy one-two beats slam behind a nice female “I can feel it…” vocal on “Instransit,” which will bang in the clubs, but could use a few more surprises. Flip for “Junkyard,” which twists a variety of growling synths and bleepy noises into a swirling, rave-friendly miasma.
geesix Cru/DJ Inanna Brown Suga/Move Deep
Reps from Boston’s heavy Soul Champion crew hold it down on this 12″. “Brown Suga” finds the pair of G Notorious White and DeepSix mixing deep, warping bass and samples with light, tinkling keys; flip for a summery, mellow 4/4 workout from Inanna. Both tracks roll along nicely but fail to deliver a heavy dancefloor punch. Still, this is a good start from these Stateside selectors.
Dizzee rascal I Luv U
This record scares me. If I heard it in a rave’ would probably go hide under a speaker. Dizzee Rascal rapping like some crazy aggressive coked-out Muppet over disastrous beats that are little more than grimy, ramped up Dillinja-style bass and a few breathy samples filling in for snare hits. This cheap-sounding record is doing for UKG what Birdman and the Cash Money clique have done for rap. Plus, it’ll grow on you like a motherfucker.
