REVIEW: Various Artists, Urbal Beats (Polygram TV)
- Krisjanis Gale
The acts exhibited on Urbal Beats can be well-classified into three groups: pioneers of the past, mainstays of the present, and revolutionaries of the future. All of them are fighting for space on this compilation.
The pioneers:
Prodigy's featured track, "Poison" , amazingly enough still holds quite a bit of cult popularity despite its age. Chemical Brothers' "Block Rockin' Beats" is approaching "how many more times am I gunna have to hear this?" status. Wink's "Higher State of Consciousness" is a throwback to acid-house long gone but still appreciable. Underworld "Born Slippy" is holding on pretty tight.
The mainstays:
The complete remix of Future Sound of London's "We Have Explosive" is surprising. C.J. Bolland's "Sugar is Sweeter" still sticks to your sweet-tooth. The airy flute and bass hook on Orbital's version of "The Saint" shows off their versatility. The Orb's "Toxygene" marks their major comeback, into a niche that works well for them; down and dubby, with plenty of ambient flair. Goldie's "Inner City Life" is an oldie but goodie. Everything But the Girl's "Before Today" is still chewing up much of the bubble-gummy drum & bass market.
The revolutionary:
DJ Icey's "Big Ditch" is cool and refreshing - nice and dicey. Rabbit in the Moon's "O.B.E." is trance as it should be done - not too much of anything, all following a logical progression. D.J. Keoki rips it up on "Caterpillar". Reprazent and Roni Size won't "Share the Fall" with anyone. Portishead won't have many more "Sour Times" if they hold their own. And the members of Crystal Method will definitely learn what it is to be a "Busy Child".
I'm not quite sure if Urb magazine's intention was to compile so much of the old with the new - but that's surely what Urbal Beats is. a collection of the big names and the big tracks they've produced. This will cause either one of two reactions in the listener. To newbies of the genre, it will be eaten up and used as an index for further research. To the veterans, the presence of the somewhat outdated tracks will make them want to cast it aside like so much hype about this big "new" thing called "electronica." I for one think it's a pretty decent all-in-one package.
