album // Hystericool : The Best Of The Alternative
Mixes
If The KLF were initially appealing but ultimately
disappointing, then the Shamen were the same for me, only magnified
many times over. I bought En-Tact, mistakenly believing the
band to be smart, knowing dance heads; with the follow-up, Boss
Drum, their pop aspirations were writ large and after 'Ebeneezer
Goode' - which I forced myself to like - I switched off.
In Mr C, much more so than head über-geek Colin
Angus, the Shamen did at least have some dance credentials. He was
a phenomenal techno DJ and his London club, The End, was regarded
as one of the capital's best places to catch the best techno deck
manipulators. In spite of this, his rapping was truly dreadful.
The Shamen did have an ear for a good remix, and
on this patchy remix compilation there are three mixes by Mute
artists - Richie 'Plastikman' Hawtin, Renegade Soundwave
and Moby. (Rhythm King act Beatmasters provided most of the
single mixes for The Shamen, and one of theirs is included here,
but I only consider that label to have a loose historic connection
to Mute.) I haven't even bothered listening to the rest, and have
been sitting on this CD for years, never quite being able to face
listenening to it.
Hawtin turns in his usual acid greatness on his
'South Of Detroit Vocal' mix of Ebeneezer Goode, but just as you're
enjoying the deep groove, along comes Mr C's goofy rap, and, superior
303 squelches aside, this totally destroys the mix. I painfully
recall now than on the 12" single of this that I generously
gave to Oxfam there was a dub mix by Hawtin; this was back before
I knew of Plastikman, otherwise I'd have hung onto it.
RSW's mix of 'Lightspan' originally appeared on
En-Tact. Unfortunately, whilst good, back then I thought
it was outshone hugely by another version of the track mixed by
Orbital. It's deep and dubby with almost hardcore beats and a speaker-bothering
low-end. Shame about the hippy trance keyboard riff though, and
for some reason the radio tuning sound (listen to it and you'll
know what I mean) reminds me of Right Said Fred. Don't ask.
As for Moby's take on 'Make It Mine', well it's
deep and entrancing like much of his early work with sprinkles of
burbling keyboards, swelling strings and a stacatto female vocal
conflating above a solid groove. Too much of the original (cheesy
urban) vocal is included for my liking, but mercifully it's mostly
in the background and not overly distracting.
A final comment - what a crap name for an album.
CD:
1. Ebeneezer Goode (South Of Detroit Vocal)
2. Boss Drum (Beatmasters Tribal Buzz 12")
3. LSI (Shamen Alternative Vocal 12")
4. Pro-Gen (666 Edit)
5. Omega Amigo
6. Hyperreal (William Orbit 12" Mix)
7. Lightspan (Renegade Soundwave Mix)
8. Make It Mine (Moby's Deep Mix)
9. Possible Worlds (Shamen Deep Mix)
10. Re:Iteration (FSL "Re:Evolution" Mix)
11. MK2A (Danny Tenaglia Vocal Mix)
12. Destination Eschaton (Hardfloor Vocal Mix)
13. Phorever People (Todd Terry Mix)
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