Monthly Archives: May 2003

dB Magazine, Music, Review, Writing

Perfecto Breaks Volume 2 – Mixed by Rennie Pilgrem

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This CD is well mixed, but doesn’t grab me like some of the other breaks compilations I’ve listened to lately. That’s not to say that this is a bad album, by any stretch of the imagination; it’s listenable and enjoyable, but is just “good” as opposed to “amazing”. For example, it’s not as clever as Perfecto Breaks Vol 1, mixed by Lee Coombs, nor is it as “cool” and dance floor orientated as hedonizm by Ellis Dee, but it will have you grooving along for most of the time.

The first track is Pilgrem’s own remix of Timo Maas Help Me featuring Kelis on vocals. This tune takes some while to get into it, but then cruises along nicely with a rolling bassline that carries the listener into the rest of the CD. Most of the tunes are examples of “tech-breaks”, with a perfect example being BLIM’s Dust, which rolls along but doesn’t really go anywhere until the middle, when the infamous Apache break drops and gets the head moving. From this point on the album seems to pick up the pace, with tunes like Rollin n Controllin by Silencer and the very good U Know Y by Moguai.

Pilgrem remixes most of the tunes on this CD, and you’ll find him adding his own little touches throughout, such as dropping snippets of Goldtrix’s It’s Love (Trippin) during Zero’s Emit/Collect, which he also mixes to great effect with Koma and Bones’ Donkey Spanner. There are also lots of effects and cross mixes that are used very well across the whole album. The album ends on a rather “housey” note with Pilgrem’s Tripped-Out mix of Turning It On by Mara.

The album is enjoyable, and Pilgrem is a damn good DJ, but there’s something about this CD that makes me rate it a little lower than other CD’s I’ve listened to lately. Maybe I’ve been over-saturated with the stuff, and this doesn’t shine as much as I expected it to, but I would say to any fan of breaks to give it a listen and make up their own mind.

dB Magazine, Music, Review, Writing

Katalyst – Agent Manipulated

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I thought Katalyst’s ‘Manipulating Agent’ was one of the greatest albums to come out last year, and this album of remixed, reworked and unreleased material is one of the best to come out this year so far. From the first note of Uprock This to the last beat of Break Up, this album simply shows how good Australian talent really is. All the tunes are fantastically transposed from their original context into new versions representing the sounds and influences of the remixing talent, each tune improving upon the original without taking anything away from the bent of Katalyst’s originals.

Uprock This is a re-working of Uprock by Katalyst himself, and it takes the original up a notch to a head bobbing, break dancing, funky party vibe, and it’s simply the best tune to start the album. All the tunes are stand out tunes, all shine as good as the last, but of particular interest is TOR’s remix of Race Against Time, which takes the already soul-filled track and injects it with more, so you’re almost overdosing on it. Danielsan’s War & Peace remix of Passing Of Peace contains an awesome scratch war between samples of people saying “war” and people saying “peace” to great effect.

Most of the tunes keep the breaks at a regular hiphop pace, but Ribosome’s take on Cycle is an excellent Bukem-styled drum and bass tune, smooth as silk. Another standout is DJ Soup, who Katalyst remixed on ‘Manipulating Agent’. He returns the favour with the Whose Reality Remix of The Agents From MK Ultra. This funky, psycadelic piece of fun rocks along just nicely. Other Aussie artists who get showcased are 2dogs, 7stu7, Crackpot, and Idiot Proof, whilst international flavour is served by Easton Rocks, Purple Penguin and Dynamo Productions (Featuring Andy Smith from Portishead). Katalyst’s unreleased tune Tell No Tales has a similar sound to the Avalanches, while Dangerous is a dark and creepy gun slinging sample fest.

Remix albums are often hit or miss, but every tune on this album is superb. I’m not one who listens to CDs over and over, as I get bored pretty easily, but this is one of those records you can play over and hear new stuff every listen. If you like intelligent hiphop, buy this album.

dB Magazine, Music, Review, Writing

Terminal Head – Weekend Warriors

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Terminal head straddle the boundary between dance music and “band” music, and whilst this can be a hindrance to the group as they can’t be fitted into the neat little boxes record companies and outlets like, I think Terminal Head will manage to capture an audience, and hopefully go far.

They have been compared to the Prodigy, but I think that’s an unfair comparison. Terminal Head’s ‘Weekend Warriors’ is poignant, witty, and clever, yet still manages to be very listenable and danceable. The Prodigy are good at making a superficial impact, but I think Terminal Head will be a lot more durable than the Prodigy.

Terminal Head are clever in their music and lyrics, commenting on the dance music scene without sermonising. They represent a variety of styles in their tunes, running the gamut of breakbeat sounds, whilst giving it their own distinctive sound. Tunes like Weekend Warriors and The Scene make a comment on the dance music industry. P.Y.O. talks about a Persistent Young Offender who’s in constant trouble with the law, in an intelligent and thoughtful way.

How Does It Feel has a distinctive punk feel to it, whilst What Time Is It? and Headstrong are hard break tunes that will pound the dancefloor. Dubious is a wonderful piece of dance dub, and Poison is like a Massive Attack tune. My favourite tune is Beats, Rhymes and Flavour, which is a cranking breakbeat dancefloor tune that needs to be played at the loudest possible volume.

I have a bad feeling that as people focus on the similarities between Terminal Head and The Prodigy that they’ll miss the differences, and write them off as wanna-be’s. However, while the similarities exist, it’s a shallow comparison and and Terminal Head should be allowed to stand on their own as great dance music artists.