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After sweating over the sight of two of my top 10 producers BT & Plump DJs names on the one piece of wax I finally got it home and onto the decks. TheAlbum Mix gets first drilling while I let myself sweat a little longer over what’s on the other side.
The lyrical rap of Back from the set and covering all bets which rasps throughout, is definitely not BTs’ motto for this track. Covering all bets is not what he has tried to do here. This isnt just the sound of now or what is most likely to sell, but it is music as he sees it. A rock influenced breaks stormer which will probably only have an attraction to selected dancefloors. But he calls them how he sees them and the more open listeners will respond to this.
The use of live instruments (including himself on the bass guitar) over some thick and heavy breakbeat patterns have me reminiscing about shaking to “Hip Hop Phenomena” (A collaboration of his with Tsunami One a.k.a. Our adopted local surf boy Adam Freeland). But this is a much more rock influenced sound rather than reggae.
The thrashing mayhem is broken by some guitar licked breakdowns and smooth, sophisticated builds which leave the track as a whole, with a completed and progressed feeling.
The BT Mix ups the ante slightly with wailing sirens which give the ‘bomb’ in ‘Smartbomb’ some character and attitude. Still with the twang of guitars, the more vocal and sample friendly remix doesn’t lose too much of the album mix, but still surely stands out in its own rights as a unique track. Part of this had me checking I wasn’t listening to a Prodigy or Chemical Brothers track. The heavy use of instruments, fearless experimentation and tight, quality production set this track in the league of those artists and doe’sn’t sound too unlike, but still carrying a charm of its own.
Is this Electro leaning towards rock? Or is it rock leaning towards Electro ? Perhaps this was the meaning of “Back from the set and covering all bets.”
The Plump DJs give the flip side a working with some slam happy, over the top, hop chop delights. The distinctive punchy bass and building breaks signify Andy Gardner and Lee Rous are back, but not in their now recognised fun, funky fashion. This remix explores a darker more interesting, even more respectable and serious production side of the Plump DJs. Perhaps it is due to the fact that the material they had to work with was so departed from what we have heard from them in the past. Regardless, it is nice to hear something that isn’t merely relying on funky hooks to do the dancefloor damage. This one is powerful without being too overloaded. A basic effective breaks track which, as would be expected from these guys, could slot into a lot of different sets and still sound suitable. The later part of this track mellows somewhat with a trancier feeling until the wailing and booming break that newly found bliss at a scary rate. Watch out for that double kicking bass in a few of the builds, you could fracture bones with that shit!!
I have to give respect to a track which even has an interesting outro. Where most tracks start winding down, this one introduces a modified beat and new sounds – intriguing. Very nice and fresh, just as one has come to expect from both BT & The Plump ones. Expect to hear this one around at some of the bigger events or the more break friendly venues. How was this track ever not going to work?
