Various Artists - Back to Mine, Liam Prodigy

(DMC)

In the latest chapter in the Back To Mine series we’re taken to the home and through the epic record collection of The Prodigy’s Liam Howlett for a trip through memory lane. Listening to some of his most mentionable influential moments in musical history and of course, what compilation in it’s ilk would be complete without the gleaming addition of a brand new Prodigy track, hot off the press? The seemlessly diverse mix glides and throbs effortlessly through a vast range of genres and times with Howlett’s usual seguing prowess.

Kicking the mix off with a hard-hitting, blood boiling Prodigy exclusive track ‘Wake The Fuck Up’ which clearly shows us that the band have been doing anything but resting on their laurels, since the recent release of their greatest hits. It proves to be a fine taste of the seething convulsions to come from the band in the near future and kicks off the mix with perfect precision, before ending rather abruptly. After a second or two of silence (not sure if this was planned on or whether it was just my copy), the mix kicks right back up there with a sturdy rock edge as Queens of The Stone Age’s ‘Feel Good Hit of The Summer’ is dropped. From here Howlett pays homage to the hip hop facet of his musical influence with Public Enemy’s ‘Welcome To The Terrordome’ which funks things up and slides the pace to a steady flow of great 80s memories and hi-top dreams of the past. Next up is a classic doobie-passing reminder of the 60s from The Third Bardo as ‘I’m 5years Ahead of My Time’ is slyly but easily slotted into the mix, keeping it in the rock vein, albeit with a stronger Brit rock flavour, Howlett gets us caught up in Vatican DC’s ‘Smiling Dogs’. Before the mix takes on a sadder but more anthemic vibe, as he swings into Dolly Parton’s country/folk classic ‘Jolene’. Two thumbs up for pulling this one off in a mix, it seems to be a daring idea a few people have tried lately as Tiga, Soulwax and now Howlett have proved that you don’t have to be Jack White to make Dolly sound right.

Public Image Limited’s much loved glimmer from the 80s ‘Rise’ brings the mix up in mood a little after, as we fly back through some funny 80s stonewash flashbacks and midnight rock dreams. The rest of the mix is directed through some sublime musical moments, courtesy of Meat Beat Manifesto with ‘Radio Babylon’ (I mean, c’mon! How obvious can the choice be?), Wood Allen, The Prodigy’s own remix of Method Man’s ‘Release Yourself’, the hottest moment from Norega’s catalogue shines through as the NERD-flavoured ‘Nothin’ spins the mix around into funksville yet again. The final moments of the comp see us through some of the finer moments from The Specials, The Stranglers and The Jam. The most surprising moments of this mix of influential confessions come from Max Romeo’s ‘I Chase The Devil’ and the very commercial ELO hit ‘Living Thing’ in which he takes to close the set with.

All in all a great mix come home to after a big night out, if you want to keep your party minds alive for a few more chain-smoking, shit-talking early hours of the morning.