- See all the Ratings
- Add my Rating now
Atomic Hooligan – You Are Here / Dreaming (Ils & BLIM remixes) (Botchit & Scarper / SRD)
Side A: You Are Here feat. Sweet Hustler (Ils remix) 6.11
Side B: Dreaming (BLIM remix) 7.59
London-based breaks duo Atomic Hooligan’s debut album ‘You Are Here’ was certainly one of the breaks scene’s most-lauded longplayers of last year, with both critics and fans alike labelling it one of the best album format examples of the genre to date; indeed the album also went on to pocket Breakspoll’s coveted 2005 ‘Album of the Year’ award. In response to ‘You Are Here’s considerably widespread success, Matt and Terry Hooligan have wasted no time in swiftly following up the album with a companion remix disc, imaginatively titled ‘You Are Here: The Remixes’ featuring reworkings from a stellar cast of breaks talents including Aquasky, Klaus Heavyweight Hill, Lee Coombes and a host of others. This 12” acts as a first taste of the forthcoming remix album and features strong remixes from scene heavyweights Ils and BLIM, and the fact that BLIM’s reworking apparently won’t appear on the full album should be sufficient incentive alone for many Botchit & Scarper fans to pick up this vinyl.
On the A-side of this 12”, Ils takes ‘You Are Here’ out into expansive, wandering electro-infused breaks, liberally scattering large amounts of Sweet Hustler’s original harmonica solos and phased vocals over a a breakbeat backing bolstered with his trademark ‘organic’ sounding drum breaks, the slight dub element injected by the deep growling synth bassline beneath beautifully counterpointed by the vaguely Detroit-esque melodic pads that shimmer in the foreground. It’s certainly the comparatively more laidback mix of the two on offer here; on the flip, BLIM takes ‘Dreaming’ out into chugging electro-breaks that roll with a similarly relentless kick to Evil Nine, deep, buzzing synthetic sub-bass carving a path between assembly-line breaks and eerie organ tones, in a reworking that’s suddenly yanked out of its heads-down reverie by the original album version’s psych-soul influenced vocal, which loops beneath much of the track before leaping forward into an almost Beach Boys-esque harmony during the breakdown.
Excellent stuff that points towards some particular treats in store on the forthcoming full remix album; Botchit & Scarper fans won’t be disappointed by what Ils and BLIM have on offer here.
