(Hot Cakes/Rat Records)

Side A: Deekline feat Top Cat – Outtaspace (VIP mix) 7.29
Side B: Dizzee Rascal – Back Off The Wall (Nick Thayer mix) 5.59

UK breaks label Rat Records’ new Hot Cakes imprint apparently aims to provide a countermeasure to the loads of woefully ropey ‘bootleg’ breaks releases currently littering store bins, and this first 12” offering from Hot Cakes pairs a reworking by UK booty breaks doyen Deekline of The Prodigy’s classic ragga-rave anthem ‘Outtaspace’ alongside a highly capable electro-breaks bootleg reworking of Dizzee Rascal’s ‘Back Off The Wall’ by Melbourne producer Nick Thayer.

On the A-side of this 12”, Deekline pushes ‘Outtaspace’ into party-oriented electro-breaks territory, retaining the original’s entire slowed-down ragga chorus section, complete with regular collaborator Top Cat toasting the familiar “I’m gon’ send him to outtaspace…” hook in a smooth manner that’s guaranteed to have some of the older ex-ravers nodding along. While it’s certainly a competent reworking that adeptly recasts the original rave anthem into chunky party-breaks with a dark, buzzing synthy edge, some of the overall energy is lost over the three vocal breakdowns, resulting in a track that overstays its welcome by at least a couple of minutes and at times, sound like it’s lost its way slightly in transition.

On the flip, Nick Thayer’s excellent distorted electro breaks reworking of Dizzee Rascal’s ‘Back Off The Wall’ redeems this 12” package, with Dizzee’s signature yelped vocals sounding perfectly comfortable over Thayer’s fat, buzzing basslines and vaguely Prince-y synth vamps, resulting in a track that’s easily the pick of the two on offer here.

A slightly mixed proposition; while some may cringe at the A-side here, the flip definitely represents the more exciting stuff on offer.

Check out http://www.ratrecords.info.