Shitmat


(Copyright © 2006 Piero Scaruffi | Terms of use )
Killababylonkutz (2004), 7/10
Full English Breakfest (2004), 6/10
Hang The DJ (2006), 6/10
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(Clicka qua per la versione Italiana)

Shitmat, the brainchild of British producer Henry Collins, specialized in spastic drill'n'bass and digital hardcore peppered with Jamaican-style ragga shouting on Killababylonkutz (2004), that contained multiple remixes of the same song in completely different directions. Original Babylon has booming bass lines and manic rhythm culled out of videogame and telephone noise; and On A Ragga Shit is even more intricate and chaotic. Best is the combination of thundering rap and grenade-like Tackhead-grade rhythms Rough Babylon (with gloriously disorienting samples). At the other end of the spectrum is the relaxed reggae shuffle Ace Of Base Babylon and the comic collage Amen Babylon. This is possibly the greatest album of remixes in the history of hip-hop music.

The single Vengeance Of The Whitehawk Townies (2004) contains the disco-music mash-up That Goat's Skull Is No Good For Thirsty Psy-trance Workers in much lighter vein.

Full English Breakfest (2004), originally released as five EPs, lacks the cohesive frontal impact of the first album. There is the hysterical Badman Ballad and the truly intimidating Night Of The Scorpion Scumland Riders (easily the highlight here). The comic cartoonish vein is well represented by pieces such as Dubplatter and UK Swampcore Sucks In Comparison To Techstep New Wave Psy-Jungle (the latter also a classy case of digital hardcore). But the album as a whole pales in comparison with its predecessor. It is fairly clear that Shitmat is aiming for the college party and the generic dancefloor with the likes of Dis Dancehall Ting Is Better Than That TV Ting Tony and Full Sunken Breakfast.

Shitmat then converted to madcap mash-up breakcore collages on Hang The DJ (2006), a wild and witty merry-go-round of samples from such diverse sources as heavy metal and orchestral pop, For one season this was a fashionable and fun listen, but fads change quickly in the world of dance music. What sounded irresistible in 2006 may sound tedious and trivial just five years later. Best is not so much the nine-minute tour de force Radio Shitmat or the ideological manifesto The Most Radical Free Party Since 1979 but a couple of surreal moments: the musichall verve of Aequeosalinocalcalinoceraceoaluminosocupreovitriolic and the pounding polka of In A Previous Life I Was An Onion Sandwich.

One Foot In The Rave (Planet Mu, 2009) returned the original ragga and drill'n'bass program.

(Copyright © 2006 Piero Scaruffi | Terms of use )
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