This disc contains remixes of songs from
One Street Over, the group's full-length debut, as well as one new track (a monolithic and monstrous reggae groove titled "Hurdy Gurdy Man"). Three of the remixes are attempts to breathe life into the group's version of "Golden Brown," a
Stranglers song that is murdered in the original version by mediocre singing and a complete lack of harmonic movement. Scribe comes the closest to making the track interesting, but eventually even his funky remix succumbs to the one-chord tedium inherent in the song. Most other tracks are far more attractive:
DJ Swingsett and
DJ Wally rework "Son of Batra" into a churning and deeply funky drum'n'bass joint, and Badmarsh takes a similar, but more shimmery, approach to "Stay Right Here." The group's own remix of "I Dreamed My Dentist Was Yusef Lateef" just plain rocks -- it's a big-beat extravaganza built on a devastatingly simple pair of layered vocal samples and a big, slow breakbeat. And "Heavenly Sweetness" gets a fine dub treatment from
Thievery Corporation. Great stuff; this disc is highly recommended.