Track: Magic Carpet Ride (Fatboy Slim Latin Ska Acid Breakbeat Mix)
Artist: Mighty Dub Katz
Label: Southern Fried Records
Released: 1997
Summary: Fun yet disposable party music.
As far as I know, this is the first song to be remixed under the
alias of Fatboy Slim, although the original mix is by the exact same
person using a different moniker. It seems Norman Cook knows just
as much about building brand names as he does about how to bang out
a good tune, slowly introducing people to his new sound under his
new name.
If anything, this mix seems even more deserving of the Fatboy Slim
brand name than any of the tracks on his previous album Better Living
Through Chemistry: all the familiar components are here, from the
sine wave sub-bass and quantised samples of acoustic drums to the
TB-303 acid lines and samples of hopelessly unfashionable music.
While not as polished as his later tracks, it certainly has the same
fun feeling, and shows that he's already worked out how to weave
catchy hooks into existing music. While this is nothing more than
disposable party music, it's still very good disposable party music.
Objectively, the old and new music styles are so disparate that they
really shouldn't work together at all. The vocals are even worse:
they consists solely of someone singing "Ah-ring-king-king-king,
ah-ring-king-king," while someone else shouts "Go!" This all seems
destined to get on your nerves, but somehow Norman Cook blends all
the elements together in such a way that, as a whole, it all works.
The simple drum beat and strangely hummable, even simpler bassline
make it all but impossible for you to resist moving your body, while
the repetitive vocals and acid lines complete the part of the song
that seems designed to get you moving. Conversely, the samples of
the older song provide a good counterpoint, giving you a moment's
rest. Once you get over this eclectic mixture of components, the
mix is a pretty simple alternation between a part designed to get
you moving and another part giving you a rest, which ends in the two
parts being combined into a suitable climax.
While there's nothing groundbreaking about this song, it's interesting
to see how Norman Cook has developed his "sine wave sub-bass, quantised
sequencing of samples of acoustic drums, and samples of old records"
formula over the years. It's also just plain fun to listen and dance
to.
Overall, I'd say this is worth picking up if you see it cheap, but
it's not especially worth going out of your way to track it down.