Atomic Hooligan - Wait Till You're Sleeping (Aquasky Mix)/Hey Gravity - Inside Out

Atomic Hooligan are a name synonymous with top quality breaks, so it’s no surprise their latest release, featuring two tracks from their forthcoming album “You Are Here: The Remixes” is top notch.

First up is Aquasky’s take on possibly the best Atomic Hooligan track to date, “When I Come”. The trio turns in tear out Breaks with brains on this remix, aiming the track squarely at the dancefloor, but never forgetting to make it worth more than your stock standard bassline-driven rinse out cut. A nice long intro leads in to a breakdown featuring a cut up portion of the chorus from the original and a filtered, high pitched version of the bassline, before the track drops in out of nowhere, taking the dancefloor completely by surprise. The bassline on this one is absolutely perfect: it features a low, bowel-shaking sub bass element, and a higher, cut up synth bass, and the two opposite ends of the frequency spectrum complement each other perfectly. But what really make this track shine are all the other elements. The beats are punchy, the percussion is rough as guts without overpowering the track, the vocal samples that Aquasky have taken from the original are perfect for their take on the tune, and the completely non-musical electronic sounds that are featured here and there and the rave influenced appregiated synth line only make this one smash the dancefloor even more. A second breakdown soon follows, featuring a haunting vocal chant before another surprising drop brings the track back in harder than a bed of nails, and a minute or two of similar rinse out vibes to the first portion of the track eventually gives way to a long, DJ friendly outro.

On the flip side is Atomic Hooligan’s remix of Hey Gravity’s “Inside Out”, and this is another quality Rock/Breaks crossover tune from the Botchit & Scarper veterans. Featuring tough beats, effectively off-beat percussion, real musical elements, and a haunting, wailing vocal, this one is probably better suited to the lounge room or the car than the dancefloor, though I could definitely see some of the more open minded dancefloors lapping this up. In the intro a punchy kick and some cleverly off-beat shakers, snares and clappers are quickly complemented out by a fantastic slap-bassline and a twisted vocal sample, before the track drops in to a breakdown featuring a distorted, stabby bassline, and a verse of the vocal from the original “Inside Out”. As soon as the verse finishes, the track drops in to a cagey groove, which is filled out nicely by the vocal from the original, and some very quirky sci-fi sounds. The structure of this portion of the track is much closer to a true Rock song, featuring verses and choruses where the vocal predominates, and then bridges where the music does the talking and the vocal takes a back seat. The highlight of the track comes next: the breakdown. The vocal chorus wails over eery atmospherics, a half-speed beat pattern, and some uplifting synth stabs. The build on this one is fantastic as well: the vocal turns in to a screaming mess of noise, while the synths and kicks build in intensity, before everything drops out, the chorus repeats once, and then the track kicks back in with its intense bassline, thumping kick, intelligent percussive elements, and some added dancefloor-friendly synths. Then it’s back to the cagey groove created earlier in the track for the remaining portion of the track, which slowly winds down giving the DJs plenty of time to mix.

Atomic Hooligan aren’t on the top of the breaks game for nothing. This release highlights exactly why this duo deserve all the credit they get. Breaks heads, miss this at your peril.

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