Picked up a couple more things. The claims and opinions of the following
review are exactly the same as that of the author. So here we go.
1. "Control" single by Traci Lords (the porn queen herself, no less!)
Don't laugh. I was laughing at the store, but I looked on the back of
the disc and you'll never believe who worked with her on it. The writing
credits are herself, Wonder (who works with Secret Knowledge, great
remixers), and Ben Watkins of Juno Reactor. There are mixes by Overlords
(very cool, is all their stuff good or no?), DJ EFX (crap) and a Juno
Reactor instrumental. The Juno Reactor and Overlords versions are pretty
cool, though kind of "pandering to danceclubs" in style. Then again, I'd
rather hear Juno Reactor in a club than 2 Unlimited, wouldn't you? After
Luciana by Juno Reactor (yawn), I thought they could use a few new
sounds. The sounds are quite reminiscent of Juno Reactor's previous
releases, but with a few new things thrown in. Overall verdict: not
exactly earth shattering, but well worth 6 bucks, especially for JR fans
and club DJs.
2. Yello-HowHow
This one's weird. Kind of like Madness hijacking a bus full of ravers.
There are a lot of weird noises and horns, plus that darned annoying
voice of Dieter Meier. The Fluke remixes are good, but I've heard
better. Then again, the expression, "you can't make gold out of a pile
of shit" comes to mind. It's not all shite as the Brits say. I think it
will grow on me as I continue to listen, and it might sound decent in a
dancehall. One cool thing they did, which I've only seen on a Shamen
single and one other, is provide most of the sound loops and samples,
including some rather neat percussion loops so you can steal them and
make your own music with them. I guess that's what the Orbital remix
deal sends out, though I don't know because those buttholes at FFRR never
returned my email. Then again, they send stuff back to you typically
about 6 weeks after you mail them. Bad Service!
3. The Serious Road Trip (this is definitely the one to get)
This whole thing rocks! There is so much good dance music on this, it's
pathetic. Lots of really good dubby dance from the Aloof, Dust
Brothers. A great System 7 Desir remix, incredible Finitribe song, HIA,
Banco de Gaia, etc. One heck of a compilation if I do say so myself.
There's even a live version of Impact (though it's mislabeled as Remind,
and boy was I PISSED when I found out). The song fades when Remind
starts. DAMN. Oh well, still one heck of a buy. You Meat Beat fans
will appreciate all the dubby dance songs with lots 'o drums. Grade A.
And it's for charity, so you can rock out and feel good about it (I do
regardless).
Finally, a couple of questions:
Are all ZYX releases basically crap?
Why don't I think Laurent Garnier is all that great?
Kathy, Mistress of Music.