FAX ON WAX

Rip It Up, Issue 220, 1 December 1995, Page 32

FAX ON WAX

DE’LACY Hideaway (Deconstruction) An original song by Blaze is licensed by Slip ’n’ Slide, remixed by Deep Dish, who shoot it to the top of the dance charts, and then passed on to Deconstruction for mass distribution through BMG. So, after all the hype, is it any good? Well, yeah, a big vocal song using some feel-good Washington beats, organs, synths and epic breaks adds up to a Deep Dish epic and the ‘K Klass Klub Mix’ is quite nice too. Very good, if you like that sort of thing.

UP YA RONSON Lost In Love (Polygram) Up Ya Ronson are a group of UK house promoters, and in order to further increase their empire they got a bloke called Sam to sing a love song, and got big names Sasha and Graeme Park to do the remixes. So, after all the hype, is it any good? Well, yeah, a big vocal song with Sasha on the trancey house tip and Graeme Park out in the garage. Again, very good if you like that sort of thing.

TRICKY Pumpkin (Fourth & Broadway) Tricky makes haunting, complex, paranoid music and the media have turned him into a bit of a pop celeb’, which has no doubt just fucked him up further. Pumpkin is a haunting song sung by Alison Goldfrapp, who sounds quite a bit like Bjork. There’s also a mellow drum ’n’ bass remix of ‘Brand New You're Retro’ by Alex Reece, which is very strange. And it does sound oddly retro, largely because of a weird guitar riff which is in contrast to the ‘we are the future’ samples. Apparently Goldie doesn’t like it because he feels that this is the wrong direction for jungle, but then, its not like he owns jungle, right? There’s also a weird track called ‘Moody Broody Buddhist Camp’ and an ‘Ambient Mix’ of ‘Pumpkin’. It’s all a bit bizarre and introspective, and apart from the Alex Reece mix, I don't really like it.

C+C MUSIC FACTORY I’ll Always Be Around (MCA) To be blunt, David Cole, one half of the Factory, is dead, but the third album is on the way and this

is the first single. It’s nothing like the adrenalin rush that was ‘Gonna Make You Sweat’, but then, this is more of a slow jam. Anyway, its basically a smooth slice of commercial pop, and as such it’s a good example of the genre, featuring a fine vocal and crispy tight production. There’s also five mixes to choose from, meaning something for everyone. DJB

NIGHTCRAWLERS Let’s Push It (BMG) About three years ago, some bloke whose name I forget was given an unknown song called ‘Push the Feeling On’ to remix. He was pissed off and in a hurry (again I forget the details), but he banged out a five minute remix and called it the ‘Dub of Doom’. One instant huge smash later, here comes the poppy cash-in album. It’s basically a pop-house album with the same bloke singing about stuff like love and dancing on every track. Strangely enough, it’s very unremarkable, and a slight lack of ideas is shown by the fact five of the songs use the same organ riff from the ‘Dub Of Doom’! Hold the anchovies, Batman, I smell a rip off! Commercial clubs and chain stores will love it.

TRANSGLOBAL UNDERGROUND Interplanetary Meltdown (Nation Records) This is a very nicely presented collection of the best remixes of Transglobal Underground tracks. TGU make good dance music, very much on the tribal, conscious, world vibe tip, while always maintaining a cool credibility which perhaps outfits such as Deep Forest have lost. My favourites are the wobbly Rasta trance of the ‘Dreadzone Mix’ of ‘Lookee Here’, the massively, stompingly tribal, ‘Kris Needs Mix’ of ‘Slowfinger’, and the hip-hoppy 'Lionrock Mix’ of ‘lnternational Times’, complete with a rap (well, it’s almost a rap), sirens and scratches. Also in the area, Sabres, The Drum Club, and Youth. ‘Watch the skies, keep looking.’

VARIOUS Nervous Hip-Hop: Continuous Mix by Kenny Dope (Nervous) Nervous are a New York label who release house, trance, hip-hop and ragga (represented by different Nervous characters). Kenny Dope is one half of the production/DJ duo Masters at Work, who have released countless classic hip-hop/house tracks and remixes

to commercial and critical acclaim. For this compilation, Kenny Dope has picked some of his favourite Nervous hip-hop tracks and mixed them together for a lesson in Nervous New York hip-hop. There are some hardcore classics included, such as Funkmaster Flex’s ‘Six Million Ways To Die’, and Mad Lion’s ‘Shoot To kill’, Smif-n-Wesson and Black Moon also represent. Kenny’s mixing is on point, the beatz is killer, ain’t no filler so this must be a winner.

Coolio is without a doubt a charismatic entertainer. His funki dreads, keen fashion sense and bug eyed stare have made him a large hip-hop personality. He’s appeared in magazine fashion spreads and other hip-hop videos such as Tupac’s ‘Temptations’.

Y’all remember ‘Fantastic Voyage’, which was just that, a bomb hip-hop track that became a worldwide summer party anthem. Well, da man is back with his second album. Gangsta's Paradise is its title and the name of its first single. Sure enough, it’s a catchy hip-hop track that went straight to Number 1 here in Aotearoa. Unfortunately, nothing else comes close to the ‘Gangsta’s Paradise’ single. The album seems to lack charisma, depth and any sense of hip-hop punch. But don’t take my word for it, all you Mai FM types that are keeping the single in the charts will probably dig it, but check it out first.

THA DOGG POUND Dogg Food (Death Row) The much anticipated new album from the Death Row stable has come under attack in the States from a certain former Secretary of State, C Delores Tucker, for its ‘gangsta content’. This is great publicity for tha Doggs, although a new Death Row album featuring Dre production and Snoop guest spots is always going to big, proven by the fact Dogg Food entered the US album charts at Number 1! The album is produced by Dre and Dat Nigga Daz, featuring rhymes from Daz, Korrupt and Snoop. Musically, it’s on the same smooth G-funk tip as The Chronic and Doggy Style. Lyrically, the Pound are on some straight gangsta shit, so the gatt toting, blunt smoking, big ass bitch mentality is here, but if you don't take it too seriously it’s entertaining as hell, and W Balls FM makes a welcome return. Highly recommended as a summer drinking album.

KRS ONE KRS ONE (Jive) This is the eighth, count ’em, eighth album from the teacher/ blastmaster KRS ONE, and is one of his strongest yet. KRS is one of rap’s hardcore heroes, preaching lyrics of education, sprirituality, respect and positivity. He formed projects such as Stop the Violence and HEAL (Human Education Against Lies). On the other hand, some albums feature ‘gatt trax’, and him and his boys once beat down Prince Be of PM Dawn. All that aside, this a slamming album, straight from New York’s mean streets. KRS produces some of the album himself, and brings in DJ Premier for three tracks of premium phatness. The subject matter takes in everything from wack emceez, to how to be a successful rapper, and is, of course, intelligently written, featuring guest spots from Channel Live, Mad Lion, Das EFX and Busta Rhymes.

THE NEW GROOVE 16 Acid Jazz Essentials, Volume 1 (Huh!/Polygram) Personally, I got bored with acid jazz compilations a few years back, but they are essential as hip cafe/salon soundtracks. So, I shouldn’t be surprised to discover this album’s cover features a photo of several lovely Auckland posey types hanging out in my favourite cafe. I was, however, surprised to discover this compilation was co-ordinated by Box/Celebre/BPM/Huh! main man Simon Grigg. Damn, Simon, you’ve done a pretty decent job, mate — a bit safe, perhaps, going for old favourites like ‘Trust Me’ by Guru and the Young Disciples’ ‘Apparently Nothing’, but I can’t front they’re classics. With the inclusion of awesome songs from Portishead, DJ Krush and Massive Attack, things are really getting interesting. As for my pick for best track, our own Nathan Haines with ‘Lady J’. Hip cafe types, take notice!

DEF JAM MUSIC GROUP The First 10 Years (Def Jam) Hard to believe, but Def Jam have been soundtracking America’s urban decay (and its right to party), for 10 years now. First releases such as ‘I Can’t Live Without My Radio’ and ‘I Need A Beat’, by LL Cool J, were raw, yet charming, with LL innocently bragging over a stark drum beat. In 1987 Public Enemy dropped ‘Rebel Without a Pause’, featuring some incredible production from the Bomb Squad. PE records became synonymous with sirens, samples, scratching and guitars, a literal wall of noise underpinned Chuck D’s relentless and ferocious attacks on the government, the white devil, blacks who refused to help themselves, malt liquor companies and the media. On a slightly different tangent were the early Beastie Boys records; an unsubtle mix of punk/thrash/and B-boy attitude that resulted in the triple platinum Licensed To 111 — an obnoxious, offensive album, seemingly designed to get right up your old man’s nose. I could go on and on, but bear in mind this is a quadruple CD, 60 track compilation. Rest assured though, this is hip-hop history, and it brings us right up to date with tracks from Redman, Methodman and Montell. You need this.

CYPRESS HILL 111 The Temples of Boom (Columbia) Muggs apparently spent his lesiurely blunted time to get it together for Cypress Hill mark 111, and it shows. The sound is vintage Muggs, a deep, murky quagmire of twisted beats, basslines and Pulp Fiction samples infused with the fragrant stench of bad weed. Muggs gets busy with some studio trickery panning samples and bringing them up and down in the mix to great effect. It’s that damn nasal drone that gets to me though. After repeated listening you begin to long for the smooth tones of Rakim or Guru, the lyrical madness of the Wu-Tang or the authority of BIG. The Hill don’t really have a lot to say other than the guns, blunts and ‘keeping it real’-isms we’ve heard before. On ‘No Rest for the Wicked’, when they dis Ice Cube, you gotta say "wassup?”. Verdict? Wicked beats, repetitive rhymes, sure to sell shitloads. Maybe.

DJB