- The insert written by DJ Dribbler in Numbers' reissue of Pierre's Pfantasy Club "Mystery Girl" is quick to point out the rise in popularity of "retro" culture over the last decade. On the surface, the label has fought against this, pushing new artists and sounds over the course of its short history. Look deeper, though, and the founders also have a healthy reverence for the past. (Jackmaster & Spencer's recent Detroit special on Rinse.fm being a solid case in point.)
So it's not much of a surprise, in a way, to see the sliced up wailing vocals, dramatic synth orchestra stabs and fake slap bass that make up this bit of acid house appear on Numbers. It might be trendy to name check the genre as an influence, but for many new jacks, they've never heard it like this. Some of these elements will still find their way into modern music, but rarely in this way. What's more, the song has a structure that follows traditional pop music, with chorus, verse and bridge parts to boot. Seiji appears on the B-side and with no original parts to work from, does a faithful flip. He simply strips back some of the wilder, more camp moments and adds a tougher, more growling bassline.
This record represents wildly fruitful times for electronic dance music, both then and now. The domination of the pop charts by artists who engaged cutting edge sounds and techniques for their output in the '80s is similar to the current fascination and rise in popularity of unlikely stars we're seeing generally in "electronica" today, and Numbers ought to be congratulated for recognising this.
Tracklist A Mystery Girl (Set Me Free)
B Mystery Girl (Set Me Free) (Seiji's Bassrub)