Month: April 1991

BEATS & PIECES

The Beatmasters’ ‘Night In Action‘ (149¼/74¼bpm), only on promo to preview their upcoming album and not necessarily due as a single at all, is a Jah Shaka inspired skanking dub that can be vari-speeded anywhere between -/+8 on a Technics deck (and if played at 33⅓rpm instead of 45rpm undergoes an interesting shift in syncopation), flipped by a similar ‘After Dark In W.3.’ variation that really does sound too fast at the right speed (Rhythm King 12VIBE 1) . . . Reese’s ‘Funky Funk Funk‘/’Bassline‘ is initially in a gimmicky limited edition red vinyl pressing, cut in reverse so that you play it backwards from the centre out! . . . Jeff Young, contrary to all the rumours, is apparently not being replaced at A&M by anyone . . . ‘Love Thang‘, always the obvious hit from LA Mix’s album, will now never be out as a single! . . . New York DJ Roger Sanchez — in other words, Underground Solution —and Jasmine this week visit Manchester’s Pleasuredome (Wednesday 3), Blackpool’s Eureka (Thursday), Glasgow’s Sub Club (Friday), and Aberdeen’s Fever (Saturday) . . . April 19/20/21’s Up-North Soul Weekender at Southport’s Pontins Holiday Centre is due to star the likes of Teena Marie, Leon Ware, Gang Starr and Working Week, with four separate music venues and DJs including Tim Westwood, Graeme Park, Bob Masters, Norman Jay, Bob Jonas, Simon Dunmore, Cohn Curtis, Sylvester, Graeme Ellis: £55. For booking details phone 091-389 0317 . . . May 4/5/6’s sixth Camber Weekender at Camber Sands’ Pontins Holiday Centre near Rye likewise will have various interesting guest stars, with three separate music venues and DJs including Bob James, Carl Cox, Greg Edwards, Stuart Vant, Rob Huntley, Fabrizio, Dave Jameson, JD, Bad Boy West, Sacha, Lez, Aubrey, Simon Grant, Dave Reeves, Peter Stapleton, Andy M: £49. For booking details phone 0233-633 652 . . . Disco Gary VanDenBussche (Medway) reckons that King Bee’s ‘Must Bee The Music‘ simply borrowed its chorus and basic break from ‘Must Be The Music‘ by Secret Weapon, on Prelude in 1981 . . AS IT GROOVES!

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HOT VINYL
This week’s new club promos and remixes reviewed by Jay Strongman and James Hamilton

LAQUAN ‘Tear Your Soul Out’
WORD FOR WORD ‘Party People’
RYUICHI SAKAMOTO ‘We Love You’ (12″ Mix)
COOL 2 ‘Kind Of Groovy’ (Cool Breeze mix)
SBAM ‘Chica Boom’
MC SWAY & DJ KING TECH ‘Follow 4 Now’
LEE MARROW ‘To Go Crazy (In The 20th Century)’
DJ PIERRE ‘Get On The Floor’
RDS featuring SPI ‘We Can Do It’
WORKING WEEK ‘Holding On’
SUENO LATINO ‘Sueno Latino 1991 Remix’

DE LA SOUL ‘Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)’ (103¾bpm) (Big Life/Tommy Boy BLR 42R)
The daisy age rappers’ first new product since 1989 (so, in passing, how come they were nominated for a 1990 Brits award?), this debut single from their upcoming ‘De La Soul Is Dead’ album is currently promoed ahead of April 15 release as a CJ Mackintosh remixed single sider (with another of their laser etched pictorial flips), an ansaphone introed then typical drily chatted rolling jogger with a catchy Curiosity Killed The Cat-like “Hey, how ya doin’? Sorry you can’t get through. Why don’t you leave your name and your number, and I’ll get back to you?” chorus, driven through a doodling tenor sax by — in CJ’s mix at any rate—the bassline from Fat Larry’s ‘Act Like You Know’. To judge from its catalogue number, this promo seems more likely to be out as a remix rather than as the first commercial pressing.

SHAWN CHRISTOPHER ‘Another Sleepless Night’ (Arista 614 186)
Originally out last July, when credited to Mike ‘Hitman’ Wilson (its creator) featuring Shawn Christopher, and subsequently now a crossover hit in the US like it always deserved to be here, this multi-tracked soulful girl wailed and rapped terrific chunkily pounding attractive breezy bounder should hook you on first hearing in its Classic Mix (121½bpm), flipped by a sparser ‘D’ Train-ishly synthed wriggly latin style Extended Midday Mix (122bpm) and its piano jingled cantering Album Version (121½bpm), which sounds most like last year’s original but with an added ‘You Got The Love’-like segment.

N-JOI ‘Anthem’ (de/Construction PT 44446)
Another deservingly reissued floorfiller from last year, sure to fly following the crossover success of ‘Adrenalin’, this slow then bounding piano jangled jaunty raver in its The Original Mix (124½bpm) is now coupled with new more choppily wriggling The Mafia (124bpm) and twittery The Six Day Nightmare (125bpm) Mixes, plus— no relation — the fierce buzzingly bleeping ‘Malfunction‘ (124¾bpm). Continue reading “April 6, 1991: De La Soul, Shawn Christopher, N-Joi, Rumbledub, Wendell Williams”