- The idea that “weird” music must be made by people on drugs is an irritating cliché. There are, however, some tracks that really make you wonder what was going on in the studio, and back in 2006 ‘Fox in the Box’ was definitely one of them, sporting lyrics such as “I never heard about the fox in the box but I heard about the shit in the fridge”. Back then the track didn’t make too big a splash, but it’s a real gem with a housey feel and bubbling bassline so it’s great to see Rebirth bringing it back in 2008 with a batch of fresh remixes.
It’s a real sign of how things have changed that a track which was probably too housey for most in 2006 has to be remixed in 2008 to make it more housey, but that’s what the re-edit, the Luke Solomon mix and the two Skylark mixes all do.
Skylark‘s dub mix is a dub in the classic style – lots of echo and sparing use of the vocal transform the track into a gently forceful percussive journey. The highlight is a nifty little breakdown using sped-up vocal snippets. Their vocal mix is a subtle update to the original, very much in the ‘Oslo’ style, injecting a little more swing into the beats and the bass, trading the stabs from the original for housier chords and stripping back the rambling vocal to key elements. It’s decent enough, but a bit lacking in character.
This is not something you could accuse the Luke Solomon mix of, however, as he’s clearly gone all out to maximize the trippiness, especially of the vocal. It’s a powerful listen, no doubt, although slightly disjointed in feel, due to the equally powerful thunderous garage drums that he welded onto the chassis of the track. It starts out bumping, but as the swirly bits hit their peak you kind of lose sight of the groove making it perhaps less of a dancefloor killer than it might have been.
The Telespazio mix, which is probably the strongest track here, doesn’t have that problem. More of a reconstruction than a remix, this is all-out disco action, driven by rollicking live bass which constantly changes and mutates throughout the track. The stabs and FX from the original make a reappearance but are combined with atmospheric rising tones which ramp the energy up into the really driving sections. There’s some acid too and enough snippets of the vocal to land this mix squarely in bong-house territory but without the laziness of groove that normally implies.
Overall this is a nice package from Rebirth and something that could add a little spice to many very different DJs sets.
TracklistA1 Fox In The Box (Skylark Remix) (6:25)
A2 Fox In The Box (Skylark Dub Mix) (6:25)
B1 Fox In The Box (Telespazio Remix) (7:31)
B2 Fox In The Box (Luke Solomon's Horse In The Fridge New Thing Mix) (7:25)