For those who adore the groovy, nonstop dance terrorism of Meat Beat Manifesto, who crave Jack Dangers' trademark electrofunk sound...here comes Original Fire, 67 minutes of remixed, rare, and previously unreleased tracks to hold MBM fans over until the next album is released.
I hate to start a review with criticism, but "Helter Skelter '97," the first track and one of the current singles (receiving airplay on MTV's Amp), is underimpressive. That's not to say that it's no good. It certainly conforms to the already excellent standard of instrumentation, production, and composition that MBM is well known for. However, the song's structure is a bit simplistic and the message a bit overstated in comparison to the other Original Fire gems. Still, there's something quite creepy in the way the anonymous speaker mutters "it's in my brain now" again and again that draws the listener in, and just in time for the second track, and my personal favorite.
"It's The Music" starts off with 40 seconds of televangelistic, ranting speech on the evils of music ("this beat that the devil today has nurtured and fostered is inspired by the powers of hell"), which causes kids to smoke weed, "rip off their clothes," and "act like animals." The glorious backing track then kicks in. About two minutes in, the preacher speaks again, and the rhythm track gets even funkier. Some kind of xylophone (or perhaps this is the rumored aquaphone Jack owns, which is like a much more expensive version of filling several glasses with water and beating them) goes nuts in the background, some heavy bass kicks in along the way...but the song is so intricate, varied and multilayered, funky and intense, it is beyond description, except to say that the entire CD is worth buying for this track. It's absolutely brilliant.
Then follows the yin-yang of "I Am Electro" and "I Am Organic," both originally recorded in '93. If it was not obvious from the titles, the former is populated almost entirely by electronic sounds, while the latter includes more funky sounds, heavy bass, analog drum sounds, etc.
"Radio Babylon" has been sampled by Prodigy, the Chemical Bros., and Future Sound Of London since it first appeared on the scene in '89. Somewhat slower and more relaxed than many other MBM tracks, cloudy, fuzzy textures and a spacious aural quality really stick out on this track. It appears on Original Fire in its original form. (What a surprise.) The Luke Vibert remix of this track is a definite contrast to the original, however: sped-up, frenetic and fun, full of thick, heavy bass tones and several simultaneous rhythms combined.
"I Got The Fear Pt.5" is incredibly funky, and reminiscent of work done by EBN (Emergency Broadcast Network, the multimedia superterrorists) on 1993's Telecommunication Breakdown. Of course, this should be no surprise as Jack Dangers performed on, produced, engineered, and mixed said album. The Mix 2000 of "It's The Music" was assisted by Freaky Chakra, and is a very groovy, infectious version. The toxic remix of "Asbestos Lead Asbestos" (orignal version can be found on MBM's critically acclaimed Subliminal Sandwich) starts off with sounds of the sea and one simple, droning vocal, and then cuts to a gritty, ear-shredding backing track. The vocals, though, are a bit clearer than the original. Overall, a properly sinister version.
The Orb's remix of "Radio Babylon" (the Beach Blanket Bimbo Land mix, for those keeping score) brings an amazing end to an incredible album. It looks, smells, tastes, and feels like what could be the beginning (or end) of a 1997 sequel to one of the greatest albums of all time, The Orb's Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld, even though such a gift will probably never see the light of day. Still, this remix is a return to the Orb's days of a more linear, more design-intensive, yet consistently trippy style. The crazy start-stop beats and repeated patterns characteristic of Ultraworld re-emerge on this remix to the same mesmerizing effect.
Original Fire proves that Jack Dangers and company, although certainly not unpopular, are one of the best kept secrets in music. It is an absolute must-have disc for all lovers of electronic music, MBM fan or not.
