The Singles Jukebox

D&B anthem edges towards crossover…

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[5.17]

Hillary Brown: You mean like the kind you might start seeing upon repeated subjection to this grab bag of whatnot, which is neither good hip hop nor good dance?
[2]

Mallory O’Donnell: I thought of a frightening idea the other day: imagine a universe, identical to our own in all respects save one. In this bizarre, jumbled-up world, when the year 1998 ended, it didn’t just start up again, but instead turned into the next year, and then, at the end of that year, it happened again. And again, and with each new year arrived new things. Scared me shitless.
[2]

Andrew Unterberger: Looks we finally have a rival to Calvin Harris’s “I’m Not Alone” for Most Unexpected Mid-Song Dance Freakout of the year. “Red Mist” sounds like a quality Just Blaze rip for its first minute, before out of nowhere, it positively explodes into an old school drum and bass throwdown. Not that I’m complaining, mind you — hell, I didn’t even know for sure that people were still making jungle / drum and bass records out there, and I’m pleased as punch that apparently they are. “And my mind feels like I’m about to erupt” is about as good a trigger phrase as an eruption like this could ask for, besides.
[7]

Anthony Miccio: It’s ironic that the soul-sample swagger of the first quarter sounds fresher than the drum’n’bass that follows. Sure, those Fatboy Slim volume drops are more than a decade old, but those horn charts are undoubtedly older.
[5]

Anthony Easton: If the lyrics are all about pulverizing people with yr fists, shouldnt the music throttle?
[4]

Martin Skidmore: As Adam F showed long ago, these frantic beats are a great backing for rap, and Byrd layers in more than most in the genre, making this an exciting record which always offers plenty to listen to. Tremendous, although the misleading opening is an odd move.
[9]

Martin Kavka: Drum ‘n’ bass has always been a melodramatic genre, even by pop standards, and thus a prime target for suspicion that its toughness is as precarious as a soufflé. For me, however, this Roni-Sized Bond theme doesn’t collapse under the weight of its own pretensions; I suspect it’s because none of the various elements overstays its welcome.
[8]

Matt Cibula: This Roni-Sized slamdance is no longer as relevant as it might once have been, but it’s pleasant enough as these things go. And, as these things go, it went.
[6]

Additional Scores

Chuck Eddy: [6]
Michaelangelo Matos: [4]
Alex Ostroff: [7]
John Seroff: [2]