By Sarah Baker
Senior editor
In the land where all hail to H.M. the Queen,
“skint” is slang for being flat out, undeniably
broke, without one thin dime to your name.
Thankfully, that isn’t the case for Skint
Records, Britain’s most up-and-coming DJ
label.
Promoting the likes of America’s most loved
Brit (aside from Robbie Williams) Fatboy Slim,
a.k.a. Norman Cook, and the Lo Fidelity All Stars
before they were signed to major labels, the buzz
across the pond is all about the label’s uncanny
knack at making itself rich with DJ talent.
Skint’s first American release, “Brassic
Beats USA,” compiles 12 cyts, which, although
including Fatboy Slim and the Lo Fidelity All
Stars, show the label has much, much more to
offer.
Skint, which Damian Harris founded in
1995, quickly has become one of Britain’s
hottest dance labels, even with its being located
-
in Brighton, a town far outside London, the
country’s traditional music hub.
Crowds regularly pack the label’s Big Beat
Boutique nights at a club in Brighton, and
major record labels are scurrying to catch the
label’s newfound talent.
It’s easy to see why.
The best thing thus far, it seems, that Skint
offers the listener is a welcome break from
mediocrity. Although the 12 offerings ajl have
the same familiar backbeat, that’s where the
similarities end.
“Brassic Beats USA” offers the listener a
crop of DJs spanning the scope of dance music
- some are undeniably rooted in hip-hop, while
others shimmy closer to the lines of trance and
even show some traits of being in debt to down
home, American pop.
But it wouldn’t be fair to generalize the
album as just another compilation.
Songs use original mixes, cool sound effects
and campy additions - such as gobbling chick
ens and electronic voices chanting “I need the
disco doctor” - all working toward an album
that’s hard to listen to while sitting still.
Two cuts from Fatboy Slim - “Sho Nuff”
and a remix of Midfield General’s “Devil in
Sports Casual” are standouts among standouts,
offering the DJ’s trademark funk mixed with
swaggering hip-hop.
Midfield General’s “Devil in Sports
Casual” offers lyrics that will lead many a club
kid to smile, not to mention beats that will make
them want to shake it.
Cut La Roc’s “Fallen” is extra funky, with a
trance-like tendency to fade in and out and
melodic lyrics to match the smooth backbeat.
It’s difficult to single out any one track, or
even a few, because they’re all that good.
The whole album works as a cohesive unit,
with-harder tracks next to funkiness, soft lyrics
next to chants and a dance format that can’t fail.
Now all we can do is hope and pray the
label’s Big Beat Boutique dance nights will
soon make their own American debut for a real
taste of clubber heaven.
Brassic Beats
USA
ARTIST: Various artists
LABEL: Skint Records
GRADE: B+
FIVE WORDS: Skint offers
rich D.J. selection.
feel like you are
missing something?
find it here
dailyneb.com
Lennon
piano up
for grabs
LONDON (AP) - The piano on
which John Lennon composed
“Imagine” is to be auctioned on the
Internet in July, online company
eOfFer.com said.
The 30-year-old upright
Steinway was expected to fetch $1.6
million and could become the most
expensive item of pop memorabilia
ever sold, the company said.
The wood-finished piano was
unveiled to the public Thursday at
The Beatles Story museum in
Liverpool. The piano is to be sold on
a new Internet site, which is being set
up by Fleetwood Mac musician Mick
Fleetwood and auctioneer Ted Owen.
i ne owner is a private collector
and a great Lennon fan, and he’s had
it now for nearly 10 years,” said
Owen. “He feels, like we do, that it
needs to be in a museum, and that’s
why it’s being shown at the Beatles
museum until Oct. 9, which would
have been Lennon’s 60th birthday.”
“Imagine,” originally recorded in
^1971, became a number-one hit when
it was re-released shortly after
Lennon’s death. The former Beatle
died outside his New York home, the
Dakota building, 20 years ago at the
hands of obsessed fan Mark
Chapman.
The piano was built in Hamburg
in 1970 and bought by Lennon later
that year. Video footage has been
recorded of Lennon playing
“Imagine” on the piano for the first
time to Yoko Ono and the Plastic Ono
Band in 1971.
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