(Peacefrog/Creative Vibes)

Reproduction is a double, unmixed CD of 16 remixes by Playgroup aka Output Recordings label owner Trevor Jackson. Despite running a label, making his own hip hop tunes under the moniker The Underdog, and still being involved in record sleeve design, Jackson has become a quite well sort-after remixer having remixed tunes from the likes of Trash Palace, Unkle, and Death In Vegas.

Reproduction is quite a hit-and-miss affair really, more hit than miss though, and this is not entirely the ‘fault’ of Mr Jackson’s remixing, rather the overall quality of some of the chosen original tracks themselves.  CD1 opens with Nylon Pylon’s Pushin, a phat bass-driven remix with some excellent guitar licks and chunky beats, trademark Jackson really.  The rocky and well-known Dance to The Underground by Radio 4 is up next and it continues the bass heaviness and guitar influences, a dance floor stormer!  The excellent Chicks On Speed cover of Tom Tom Club’s Wordy Rappinghood gets the Playgroup treatment next and is a decent improvement on the Chicks cover, fattened up for club use on a big system.  Jackson does pretty much the same with Louis Austin’s feat Peaches Grab My Shaft and the next couple of tracks before ending CD1 with an electro-disco remix of his own tune Behind the Wheel and a remix of Soft Cell’s Monoculture, which wasn’t much chop the first time round with its corny lyrics, and isn’t much better after Jackson’s fiddles with it.

CD2 starts off brilliantly with Playgroup’s wicked remix of The Rapture’s I Need Your Love. The vocals are retained, a decent club beat is added, and assorted other cool sounds are laid down to great effect.  The less said about his remix of Chromeo’s Gangsta the better.  Terrible tune with god-awful vocals!  Price Gun Baby, a track by recent visitor to our shores Captain Comatose, is a far better affair with its pulsating bassline, 80s vocal delivery and more substantial lyrical content.  Having not heard the original Sex On The Beach by Trash Palace I can’t really comment on how good Jackson’s remix is of it, but it sounds pretty cool to me, nice and phat and grinding.  Same goes for The VCR’s Get On.  Popular club tune Bucci Bag by Andrea Doria is up next and it’s a tougher affair than the original but still with the trademark Playgroup phat goodness.  I really dig the last two tunes on CD2. The first is another remix of one of Jackson’s own tunes Bring It On, and has a wicked bass line reminiscent of the heavy bass drone of legendary, rude and crude San Fran hardcore punk rockers Flipper. Good shit!  And the last track on the CD is a remix of Soul On Ice by the legendary musician Yello.  It’s all electro-acid goodness with soft, whispery spoken word vocals over the top.

Reproduction is a worthy addition to anyone’s collection and quite strikingly reveals the remix talents of Trevor Jackson. He has his own trademark sound of phat and driving bass lines, chunky beats, crunchy guitar licks and other assorted bleeps and squirts that he uses to great effect.  His remixes never disappear up his own arse and retain an accessible but still unique quality that can be both labelled underground and dance floor friendly.  Almost never a dull moment! The unmixed CD format used on this release is also a welcome sight considering the ever growing legion of DJs now utilising CD decks in their sets. At least we can be comfortable in the knowledge that the original artists will receive some recompense for their creative output.