My grime round-up has become bogged down in... okay, just apathy really... but I will finish it soon I promise! In the meantime, more good stuff:
Kelis - Milkshake (Remix ft. Clipse)
This is like the very best moments on the otherwise-only-okay new Missy album ("Don't Be Cruel", "I'm Really Hot", "Fix My Weave") all fused together and then tied to a harpsichord falling out of a window for good measure. Plus I'm so psyched for the new Clipse album! (ta gabba.cc)
Markus Guentner - Such A Shame (Remix)
Listened to this at the record store, and it's fab: Markus finds the perfect combination of his Kompakt and Ware styles (swirly sparkly ambience and chunky pop-flavoured tech-house, respectively) by releasing a beatless version of his female vox "Such A Shame" cover. The result is the tingliest, most luscious thing I've heard in ages, somewhere between Luomo's "The Visitor", Kaito and Aphex Twin's "Xtal". I may even break my "no full-priced 12" singles" rule for it.
Bounty Killer - Hey Yallow
Best version I've heard on the Marmalade Riddim, which is all squelchy and stringswept Indian drama as you'd expect. Bounty contributes a great anthemic chorus but I can't deny that maybe half my love for this is based on the way he squeals "female". Or is that "feemeeal!!"?
Ms. Dynamite - Put Him Out (JD Remix)
Belated discovery, this: JD pulls out his patented lurching bassline and dancehall-ish beats arrangement (not quite as great here as on Mis-Teeq's "Nitro" but better than on his remix of Jamelia's "Superstar" (though Jamelia herself is tops on that)) but the main attraction is that it's actually a rap track and has very little to do with the sanctimonious original! It makes me flash back to my near-obsessive Dynamit-e love back in late '01 when we all only knew her as the insane MC on "Boo" and So Solid's "They Don't Know (Remix)".
The Modernist - Kangmei (Parts 1 & 2)
Kangmei is one of a couple of late-entry albums (along with Monolake's
Momentum and Captain Comatose's
Going Out) which is keeping my '03 best-of list in a constant state of flux. The title track is my current fave at the mo' - Burger's trancey gridlock groove goes a bit mushy and soothing while gentle female vocals coo and murmur over the top. Reminds me of Bel Canto circa
Shimmering Warm & Bright but dancier and, um, better. But when are we gonna get a Triola album, hm?
And finally,
Jess's discussion of rhythmic complexity in current jungle are really interesting (and a bit mystifying for someone like me who only gets a couple of nu-dnb comps a year and only knows the big hits), although he seems to come to the same conclusion that I did: that it's not just complexity that counts when it comes to "rhythmic danger". As I said earlier, even 2-step tracks are not anathema to rhythmic danger (although their deadening familiarity certainly is). For what it's worth, the two best post-98 tracks I've heard in this regard are by Teebee: check "Space Age (Remix)" and "Black Rain" from Certificate 18's
Hidden Rooms 03 compilation for some stunning groove work-outs - utterly compelling stuff.
