Steve Lawler's incredible Lights Out compilation was so good, amongst other reasons, because it managed to balance exploration and journeying with a feeling that the listener was always within a tightly bounded arena. It knew its scope clearly, but went where it wanted within it. A place where tech rollers sat neatly alongside the likes of Crossover's off-key nu-glam "Phostographt." Lawler and this motley crew of not-to-be-sniffed-at remixers may not go as far as that on Gimme Some More, but there's plenty of versatility within the vicinity of the kind of tough, Mediterranean-friendly tribal/tech area that he generally occupies.
Lawler delivers as expected on "Gimme Some More": Congas and South American percussion clank around roughly underneath a souly voice professing the spiritual benefits of dancing and beats, until the kick barges in to propel it forward. That all sounds fairly cliched, and it is, but it's damn solid nonetheless and there's little doubt that it would go down a storm on a Sunday night at Space. Guti has even more congas; they rule the track, giving it both a screwloose, slightly surreal carnival feeling and, because they're short on variation, an over-insistency. Mendo, on the other hand, betters the original, with four beats of ultra tight glass-bottle percussion and rising bass looping over and over in support of the vocal, which is wiped in tone-destroying effect this time. It's simple, driving and, again, insistent, but in an entirely funky way.
A more experimental turn is taken by And.id, jazz man as he is, but he's put down the trumpet and bongos in favour of dark, doomy synth punctuations and a jacking acoustic snare that stutters every so often; cool and interesting, with more than a touch of roughness. Chopping up the "Gimme Some More" bit from the original, Audiofly marries this, the rest of the track and a sliding sub-bass with dubby chords, making it spacious and sleazy at the same time. David K's version is much warmer and more chordy; an overtly joyful, peaky take. They all offer something unique alongside the rest, and if you're into Lawler's mixing at all, you're likely to find a fine battle weapon somewhere in here.
Buy Steve Lawler - Gimme Some More at
Tracklist: Steve Lawler - Gimme Some More
 01. Gimme Some More
02. Gimme Some More (Audiofly Dubs n' Subs mix)
03. Gimme Some More (Acappella)
04. Gimme Some More (Guti Remix)
05. Gimme Some More (And.Id Remix)
06. Gimme Some More (Mendo Remix)
07. Gimme Some More (David K Remix)
| 
 Other VIVa MUSiC reviews
|
