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Album Review
by SashaS
8-10-2002
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| Fatboy Slim's 'Big Beach Boutique II' |
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Fatboy Slim: 'Big Beach Boutique II'
(Southern Fried)
Fatboy Slim’s re-staged beach entertainment
Having read the papers and heard some first-hand reports, I was curious to find out what music did the (estimated) quarter-million souls enjoy on that summer’s day on 13 July 2002? There is also a DVD of the event but we suspected it to be a bit of a tedious watching, so we got the album and checked out what were Fatboy Slim and his turntabling record boss, Damien Harris, working as Midfield General, mixing on that beach day and night.
Well, it sounds like it was a good ‘gig’; commencing with Midfield-ers’ ‘Reach Out’, featuring Linda Lewis, it heralded the happy, dancey beats that would keep coming at a steady pace. FBS’ ‘Talking ‘Bout My Baby’ kicks the parade proper of feelgood, mass-dance orientated music… This is chart-dance, radio-friendly variety, nothing hard-core/underground and popping any pills is almost unnecessary.
Amidst Norman Cook-popularised songs the master decknitian drops tunes by Groove Armada (‘Superstylin’’), Lo-Fidelity Allstars (‘Tied To The Mast’), Mint Royale (‘Sexiest Man In Jamaica’) and even All Saints (‘Pure Shores’), to make it a wholesome entertainment. But not all is successfully executed and X-Press 2’s ‘Lazy’ sounds a bit laboured. Next to Glen Masters’ ‘Hi Jackers’, ‘Lazy’ is as artificial as Frankenstein!
Camisra’s ‘Let Me Show You’ rocks happily but all-too-familiar, making one wonder about the state of club culture; the reason being that ‘Boutique II’ sounds solid but lacking adventurous spirit. Dance genre appears to have painted itself in a corner and there is not as much innovation as there used to be. Norman Cook even said recently that he might look at hip-hop as inspiration for his next album. (Better than at Blur, whose album he was/is producing.)
I wanted to be between the Brighton Piers but was away in Dublin, hanging out with Foo Fighters. Still, I find this a satisfactory document of the event that really, confession-time, made me dance around the office (while everyone else was lunching)!
8/10
SashaS
13-4-2002
Fatboy Slim and Midfield General’s DVD/CD ‘Big Beach Boutique II’ is available now on Southern Fried Records/SINE
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