Baobinga & I.D - Big Monster: The Remix EP Pt. 1

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  • Big ups to Fat! Records for recruiting an inspired roster of remixers to take on the label’s biggest act, Baobinga & I.D. Rather than trading favors with another breaks label for remix duties, as is often the case, here they’ve pulled up a handful of hungry producers from the depths of obscurity and let them loose on the duo’s ‘Jump Up Get Hype’ from their debut album Big Monster. The original is a peaktime vocal breaks track (with UK grime crew Virus Syndicate on the mic), energetic and fun but forcedly so. Any breaks act in the same ranks as Baobinga & I.D. – Aquasky, Atomic Hooligan and Slyde to name a few – would’ve likely taken a fairly predictable angle to retooling it, but the three remixes here are all come from leftfield and manage to outshine their source material. First up and best of the bunch is Gella’s “Hardsteppin Remix”, which lives up to its name with a saucy two-step/broken beat rhythm that complements the original’s rascally vocals nicely. Baobinga & I.D. make some of the best and heaviest basslines in breaks, and while Gella’s is in a totally different mold, it’s match-for-match in quality. Punchy and almost impossible not to dance to, it’s also littered with a load of cleverly edited old-school house and dnb samples that should be instantly recognizable to any listener. Badlands take a glitchy, aggressive electrohouse approach to their remix, brimming with that so-called “filthy” bass so characteristic of the genre. It’s quite a workmanlike 4/4 stomper, but as such almost a necessary foil to its more experimental partners on this EP. Between Gella and HeavyFeet, however, it leaves hardly as lasting an impression. HeavyFeet’s “Raving Re-Shuffle” is pinned on a long and loose bassline that wouldn’t be out of place on a Count & Sinden or Crookers tune. Like the other two remixes, HeavyFeet have pulverized Virus Syndicate’s vocals, and cleverly theme their remix around one particular sound bite, “I’m in the rave.” This makes for a hilarious, tongue-in-cheek build-up loaded which tries to match the energy the original but never quite finds it. In an effort to keep things cool and collected, that buildup never realizes its potential for getting really unhinged, which could’ve lauched HeavyFeet’s remix over Gella’s but keeps it a distant second. Taken together, these are some of the most inventive and refreshing breaks remixes of the year so far. Looking forward to see who Fat! line up for the second Big Monster remix EP.
  • Tracklist
      01 Jump Up Get Hype (Gella's Hardsteppin Remix) 02 Jump Up Get Hype (Badlands Remix) 03 Jump Up Get Hype (HeavyFeet's Raving Re-Shuffle)
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