mo’ better beats

Rip It Up, Issue 218, 1 October 1995, Page 27

mo’ better beats

MICHELLE GAYLE . . Happy Just to be With You (RCA) . > . > • ■ . Oh yes, I like this. Funky in the old school style, this takes the best of a 70s retro jam and mixes it into a 90s dancefloor groove. Gayle’s vocal treatment carries just the right attitude and this song swings. ; SAINT & CAMPBELL ’ ~ ;' A Little Bit of Magic ’ ‘ ■ (Festival) ■;■ " After initial radio' success with a variety of covers, Saint and Campbell strike out with their own song. The same soft reggae flava is applied here, to what is still essentially radio pop. Nice. . • . BLAK PANTA Do What U Want (Festival) ' - For a more hardcore reggae sound, ; try this, taken from ' the soundtrack to the movie New Jersey Drive. Panta has that same deep ragga growl as Shabba Ranks, but without the menacing edge — which is good! ' ‘‘ ’ JWM & RANKIN’ D featuring CUTTY RANKS - ? Night and Day (WEA) ■' . ; , lch ; bin ein Berlin . Junglist! Yes, it’s the German jungle sound, with heavyweights Rankin' D and ' Cutty Ranks flown in for good measure. Not a bad sound at all, with four mixes to choose from. Surprise! ■ I preferred the hip-hop mix. , ■ VARIOUS ARTISTS Dangerous Minds Soundtrack. (MCA) - ' ' Any album that opens with Coolio’s ‘Gangsta’s Paradise’ has got to be a winner, and this is. Put together by Jodeci’s DeVante, a broad range of styles are included: gangsta rap, slow jams, , funk and Miami bass.'Tre Black: steals Gary Numan’s 'Cars’ (without -credit) for 'Put Your Back Into It’, and Rappin-4-Tay lifts The Jackson s’s ‘I Want You Back' (credited) for ‘A Message For Your Mind'. I father enjoyed the high energy of the Miami bass ‘Don’t Go There’ by 24-K, but had no time for

‘Feel The Funk’ by Immature. A greatish soundtrack — shame about the movie. MARY KIANI When I Call Your Name (Polygram) Produced by technoids the Nightcrawlers, this is standard radio pop. Kiani has a nice voice, but the song doesn’t rise too much. Nice tits too, babe, but don’t call me— I’ll call you. JANET JACKSON Runaway (A&M) Speaking 0f... nice voices, this gal has got it goin’ on — two times. This is pure radio pop too, but it's sublime. Proof you’ve either got it or you ain’t, Janet has a sure fire summer hit — unless no one else likes this. VARIOUS ARTISTS The Best of Ragga/Rap Summerjam 95 (ZED) That man DJ Scribble is at it again. Another 90 minute mix of ragga/rap party. favourites, with a touch of R&B dance thrown in for good measure. Listed as

Summerjam 95, this covers a lot of old ground, but it’s an excellent jeep jam, nonetheless. The Jacko remix of Janet Jackson's 'That’s The Way Love Goes’ is great (can’t wait for her new album, due out this month). Other tracks include Snow, Naughty by Nature, Inner Circle, and an old school jam from The Beastie Boys. Limited edition import only.

SNOW Sexy Girl (WEA)

This is already getting plenty of, airplay, but I don’t like it. It doesn’t sit right. He tries to mix ragga with R&B, but it doesn’t work. Okay, he’s not a complete sell-out (as evidenced on the B-side, Anything for You, featuring Terror Fabulous, Culture Knox and Buju Banton), but it’s not the same buzz as ‘lnformer’ was.

KYLIE MINOGUE Where Is The Feeling? (Festival)

While sister Danni trades her singing career for Playboy dollars, Kylie continues to carve a place for herself amongst the dancefloor clique. In doing so, she’s given up the Number 1 pop hits of old in order

to work with the likes of house producers Brothers in Rhythm and David Morales. Good, but not great. ADINA HOWARD My Up and Down (Warners) A fine follow-up to her first hit, this maintains the sex tip but slows down the raunch. The lyrics are still about sex, but you really have to listen to hear what she’s on about. People who listen to the radio but don’t listen to the songs won’t know Howard has mastered a technique called ‘the merry-go-round’. She goes up and down and round and round. Saucy. MC HAMMER Sultry Funk (BMG) From his new album Inside Out, this single also features VMF (Viscious Man Funk) on rap duties. Hammer’s lyrical style has progressed greatly from how he started, but at the same time, he now sounds like many others. Still, the beat is good (lifted from Cameo) and this could be the start of a slow climb back to credibility. Or not. Oh, the perils of achieving pop success so early!

SHUT UP and DANCE I Love It (Festival)

A couple of West Indian Londoners lift an old swing tune and come up with a quirky little ragga/ska number. Actually, that's probably not an accurate description, but buggered if I can describe it. Much better is the B-side, ‘Blackmen United’, which sticks to regular hip-hop raps over a Massivetype beat.

VARIOUS ARTISTS West 25th (BMG)

’ A collection of successes from the last 12 months off the Jive/Zomba label. Some of it is a little old, but latest releases such as ‘Froggy Style' by Nuttin’ Nyce are also included. I could do without . R Kelly and Shaquille O'Neal, but Fu-

Schnickens and Erick Sermon more than cover their asses. On the smooth tip are Aaliyah, Silk, and Keith Murray. Goodish. VARIOUS ARTISTS More 12” of Pleasure (Festival) Stuck at home on a Saturday night? Turn this up loud, suck on Feijoa, and you're out clubbing with the best of them — if only in your own mind. Twelve slices of high energy, gay-disco/house including Kylie Minogue, Thelma Houston, 4-2 the Floor, and Nicki French. This is great. Go out and buy it. NICK D’ANGELO

VARIOUS ARTISTS Jungle Massive 4: The Hardsteppers vs the Junglists (PWL)

VARIOUS ARTISTS Downbeat in the Jungle 2 (Warners)

Yeah, well, you may have noticed that over the last year jungle has exploded. It’s gone mega, and hand in hand with a mega music trend (No, no, it’s not a trend!) comes a truckload of compilation albums. Now, I only bought the first Jungle Massive three months ago, and here we are up to number 4. This one adds a bit of a twist, however, in that it's a double CD. The first CD features 16 hardstep tracks, and the second, 16 jungle tracks. Hang 0n... hardstep? A lot of people are only now discovering jungle, but of course it’s moved on. To make things less (or more) complicated, trainspotters are now talking about ambient jungle, intelligent jungle, ragga jungle, drum ’n’ bass and hardstep. Harold of the Picassos was telling me about bhranga jungle the other day... Anyway, they are all, of course, variants of jungle. With this CD, the hardstep selection represents the cleaner, harder form of jungle, while the junglist CD represents the more ragga influenced

strain of breakbeat, featuring ragga toasting and bad boy gun posing. For me, the hardsteppers win hands down. The production is generally awesome, drum ’n’ bass at its most spacious and uplifting. But hey, if you are a ragga fan (and I'm not), you’ll probably find the junglist CD superior. 'Downbeat in the Jungle’ is, again, very much ragga influenced, featuring the vocal talents of Cutty Ranks and Barrington Levy, among many others. One of the reasons I I <e jungle is its ability to take me to aiother headspace, and I’m sorry, but MCs and toasters in general stop me getting there. A lot of the tracks on this CD feature dub reggae basslines and breaks, making for an album of dub ragga in the jungle if you will. This is why it comes as a surprise to find the sublime 'Horny Mutant Jazz’ by T-Power (also seen on Give ‘em Enough Dope Vol. 2). It definitely seems out of place — but then, you get that.

VARIOUS ARTISTS Best Foot Forward (Pussyfoot)

Woah, check ya head, it’s another trip-hop compilation. Fortunately no sign of Portishead or Tricky, just a motherfunkin' trunkload of badass, beat-laden tripped-out headscapes for your phat mamma’s ass, all brought to you by the eccentric, but charming, Howie B. Howie now runs his own label, Pussyfoot, which specialises in deep, dubby trip-hop. This compilation pulls the best of these together. Interestingly enough, sly old Howie has his busy little hands involved in 11 out of the 12 cuts on offer, and this really makes for a consistent compilation with its own sound — deep, down and dirty instrumentals over phat and funky bass. One of the highlights is ‘Birth’, which has now featured on four such compilations. Trip-hop, tit-pop, shit-stop — call it what you will — this is the real deal right here, cowboy.

VARIOUS ARTISTS Deconstruction Classics: A History of Dance Music (Deconstruction)

Pretty bold claim that, innit? But then closer inspection of this double CD reveals that it does indeed contain a rather large proportion of dancefloor anthems spanning the last five or so years. It is, of course, mostly of the commercial bent — but then, this is Deconstruction, home to Kylie and the Grid, both of whom feature.

So, let’s talk anthems. ‘Swamp Thing’ is here, as is ‘Moving on Up’ by M People who, natch, feature three times. Old school high NRG is represented by Black Box, who contribute ‘Everybody Everybody’ and, lest we forget, ‘Ride on Time’ — the memories the memories! Usura’s stomping 'Open Your Mind’ is here, as is Felix’s incomparable ‘Don’t You Want Me’ (check the 95 remix.es for a killer update). On a slightly harder tip is the trancey ‘Packet of Peace’ by Lionrock, with that prat MC Buzz B on the mic’, but hey, it’s a stormer nonetheless.

History of Dance Music? More like a history of Deconstruction’s success and handbag’s relentless march into surburbia. If you like your dance with sing-along vocals and piano lines, then this a strong compilation that won’t disappoint. Nice packaging too. FLUKE OTO (Virgin) Fluke have always been in a class of their own. The fact they have just released their third album, Oto, into

an often fickle dance market proves what you always suspected — Fluke ooze quality. They’ve always had a distinctive sound characterised by trancey throbbing guitars and progressive chugging beats, especially on their excellent second album, Six Wheels On My Wagon. Speaking of which, does anyone know who remixed the version of ‘Groovy Feeling’ that’s sometimes used on Newsnight? Do let me know... Anyway, Oto is on a whole new vibe. I naturally expected a dance album, but only the first single, ‘Bullet’, could be described as a dancefloor stormer, and that it is. But no, Fluke have gone deep and dubby, using effect laden vocals and basslines to great effect, holding it together with understated breakbeats to create an album of real class. If you want the dance remixes, and I know I do, start with ‘Bullet’. I find the original hard to top, but it’s the business, regardless.

VARIOUS ARTISTS The Brain — Central Nervous System (BMG)

This is a hardcore CD. Check out the inside notes and you’ll discover a track listing including titles such as 'No Women Allowed’, ‘BRRRRRR’, ‘Riot in New York’ and ‘Express Elevator to Hell’. The BPM's range from a ‘brisk’ 155 to a ‘much, much faster than brisk’ 202. Jesus. The compilation is, of course, the brainchild of The Brain posse, who since 91 have been subjecting Auckland's eager hardcore massive to relentless nights of hardcore maddness. This year they brought over Sydney rave jock DJ Vagas, and he be da man responsible for selecting and mixing The Brain CD. Needless to say, it is an absolutely fierce selection of happy hardcore, teutonic techno and brutal gabber. Vagas does a near seamless job on the mix, and includes recent anthems such as ‘Check Your Head’ by Ultrasonic and ‘Ultimate Sextrack’ by Charlie Lownoise and Mental Theo. Also present is that awesome gabber track ‘Here’s Johnny’, which features in its hardcore version. Let’s just say encountering this in a dark room on a loud system in the wrong state of mind could leave you a dribbling mess for weeks to come. Anyway, this is an extreme CD that won't appeal to everyone, but if you’ve ever danced away the wee hours to a true hardcore DJ, this will get you well hard. VARIOUS ARTISTS Central Energy One (Central Station) Warning: hardcore cheese alert. This is a collection of dodgy house tracks and dodgy house remixes of 80s pop, like the Eurythmics, and 90s pap, like Whitney Houston. Also present is a hi-NRG version of the classic 'White Lines’. You’ve gotta wonder why they felt the need to do that. Other classics, like ‘lt’s Raining Men’ and an appalling version of ‘Phantom of the Opera’, are also present. It is, however, mixed by someone calling himself Pee Wee Ferris, and I’m almost sorry to say he does a pretty damn good job. Honestly, though, it’s compilations like this that give dance a bad name. If you buy this, you can bet the tacky Australians that put it together are having a good laugh at your expense. Its one redeeming feature is perhaps that old cliche that yes, it would be a fine (doobage) CD to whack on if you were in the unfortunate position of deejaying at the local ‘Sharon and Wayne’ nitespot. Avoid.

ANDY