WHAT EVIL LURKS

Prodigy

By rights, I shouldn't be able to review this. You see, it's an ancient single, as old as the hills and possibly even older. Not only that, there weren't that many copies pressed in the first place and it failed to make the Top 75 when it came out back in February 1991. It also happens to be the very first Prodigy single ever, so it has an extraordinarily collectible air to it. So how come I can review it, and more to the point, how come it only took me 13 ½ years to do it? Well, it's like this. The Prodigy's record label (XL Recordings) has reached its 15th birthday and has decided the best way to show off how great it is would be to re-issue some of their proudest achievements. To you and me, that means another chance to get hold of the single that came before Charly and I thought I'd do just that. To be honest, if you know what early Prodigy sounds like, you already know what this is going to sound like. Proper rave music with loads of bleeps, vocal samples and no real musical instruments, that's what you get and I actually have a soft spot for this sort of music. I had a feeling I might like this and that's exactly what happened, in fact there's more ideas here than I found in most of Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned (aside from Girls, I found that album to be a huge disappointment). You even get the original version of Everybody In The Place for your money too and it's very different to the single that reached the chart. All in all, if you like rave music or are curious about the Prodigy's early stuff, I'd recommend this single. On the other hand, if you despise all that then I'm really chuffed that you've read as far as this without deciding to see what else is in the 'paper this week. Thanks!

ACID HOUSE MIXES BY 808 STATE

New Order

If even 808 State's official website says "Never really intended as a proper release" then caution is most definitely advised here. Being a fan of New Order, I thought "I have to hear this" and being slightly daft, I thought "This is going to be brilliant". Well, you have to be optimistic. Being a Luton supporter and experiencing three relegations in nine years taught me that. Think about it, though. These remixes came out in 1988. Back then, New Order were just about to unleash Technique on the world after a really great holiday in Ibiza just as it was becoming The Place To Be. As for 808 State, well, a year down the line they'd release Pacific just in time for the music press (which at the time consisted of more than just the NME) to start screaming "Madchester!", "Sorted!" and "MC Tunes" all over their front pages. All the signs are that this should be great. The problem is, as individual songs there's something wrong and it may be something to do with the fact that these sound more like re-recordings than remixes. I couldn't find anything in the Blue Monday remix that was recorded by New Order and only a couple of bits from the Confusion remix that may have been from the original version. Mind you, that's the beauty of acid house, you practically create a brand new song and use as little as possible from the original track. I remember watching Channel 4 one morning when acid house was just starting to appear and saw this bloke remix a Glenn Medieros track during the course of a show. When he'd finished it, he played it to Glenn (who, lest we forget had just been responsible for one of the Worst Number One Singles Ever). He was clearly hoping for something he could recognise and came away wondering what the hell that was. The difference here is that the tunes are recognisable, it just sounds like two (admittedly good) cover versions. When you hear them, you can understand why they weren't originally intended for the shops, though. My theory is they were only meant to be used by DJs for mixing in and out of other songs with.