Bentley Rhythm Ace The Future Sound of the United Kingdom Three (Ministry of Sound)
As big beat becomes the techno subgenre most likely to succeed on mainstream American radio’s terms, a lot of people are growing wary of it–understandably, perhaps, but a mite disingenuously as well. For example, when Fatboy Slim’s You’ve Come a Long Way, Baby was released in October, a number of prominent critics felt obligated to point out that it was just, you know, a novelty record. In Rolling Stone Rob Sheffield compared Fatboy Slim to Men Without Hats, and in the Village Voice Robert Christgau equated him with Weird Al Yankovic. While both writers made it clear that they liked the record, it still felt like they were contributing to a dismissal by consensus.
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You’ve Come a Long Way, Baby, like Supa Dupa Fly or Dig Me Out–respectively Sheffield and Christgau’s favorite albums of ’97–contains a minimum of filler, provides ample evidence of a strong and consistent vision, and kicks ass. But critics are accustomed to viewing rock bands and R & B singers as entities with the potential for a long run, and in particular Missy Elliott and Sleater-Kinney are often perceived as symbolic–they’re not just kicking ass, they’re women kicking ass in the name of women everywhere. Fatboy Slim, aka Norman Cook, is a balding white Englishman devoted to kicking ass in the name of kicking ass. It’s harder to articulate why that might be important, and if it’s not important, it must be a passing fad.
Brothers Gonna Work It Out (Astralwerks) and Live at the Social, Volume 1 (an import on Heavenly), both mixed by the Chemical Brothers; the second and third volumes of the Future Sound of the United Kingdom series, mixed by the Freestylers and Bentley Rhythm Ace (imports on Ministry of Sound); and On the Floor at the Boutique, mixed by Fatboy Slim (a Skint import due for domestic release by Astralwerks this summer) jumble together blaxploitation funk, hip-hop, rock, industrial, and the dizzying multitude of postrave genres. Emphasis naturally falls on big beat, but you’ll also hear recognizable chunks of traditional house, acid house, and drum ‘n’ bass. Sometimes the combinations sound obvious, but when they work, as James Brown would say, good God.
Collectively these mix CDs make the smartest argument I’ve heard anywhere by anybody for the look-ma-I-put-samples-on-my-songcraft school of pop music. They’re as good as anything being released anywhere by anybody right now, the fruits of an active, working aesthetic that both honors its components and creates something new. Even better, they make you want to get off your ass and jam–and I feel sorry for anyone to whom that urge is a novelty.
