Kicking things off with a new track from US producer Kingdom, whose Mindreader 12" was one of the finest releases of last year - 'You' came as close to trance as good music should, and the Todd Edwards remix was (as expected) ridiculously good. New bit Pathfinder comes from Rob Wonder's No Static At All Compilation, created for Scion Radio. Kingdom's offering is definitely the pick of the EP, although it's worth checking out the whole thing certainly.
Bit late on this one, but good music shouldn't be time-stamped. Township Funk was remixed about a million times in between its original release and subsequent releases and remix packages, but the Crazy P one somehow slipped me by at the time. The finest of the bunch, Crazy P drops things down in tempo and slides a sleazy bassline under that all too recognizable hook, though the hook twists and changes throughout - a nice balearic workout.
Brackles remix of Crystal Fighters is an undoubtedly large tune - searing synth lines, that classic vocal refrain and cracking drums, it's easy to see why Oneman chose this tune to end his Rinse CD, and Mishka NYC's DJ P.O.L.STYLE ups the ante by throwing the vocal from DJ Pied Piper's guilty UKG pleasure Do You Really Like It over Brackles production. A snug fit!
EL-B and Noodles' legendary Groove Chronicles collaboration showcased a more soulful side to the dark garage that El-B became famous for - way back in '98 they created this euphoric slice of 2-step that melded female vocals, warm sub bass and nuff sax samples, and it's still warming dancefloors today. A stone cold killer...
Last but not least, Hessle Audio's ever enigmatic Joe's latest offering Claptrap takes a ghetto leaning via Sound Pellegrino's DJ Orgasmic. The percussion heavy clap track fits perfectly with this Ludacris acapella, showing all the US producers how hip hop really should sound: dark, frantic and full of 909 action!
