4hero – The Remix Album (Raw Canvas)
March 2nd, 2004 by susanna
Did someone say ‘save the best ’til last’? Forget that – this album opens with a widely regarded hot contender for the Best Remix in the World… Ever. The loose, bluesy groove and jazzy drum and bass break that form part of 4hero’s reworking of Nuyorican Soul’s ‘I Am The Black Gold Of The Sun’ help form a rare example of a brilliant song made better by another artist’s take.
An achievement in itself, though perhaps not a miracle, considering that the source material is very similar to 4hero’s own sound. In fact, while there are exceptions, Marc Mac and Dego’s regurgitation of their broken beat, jazz- funk and generally Gilles Peterson-championed mates’ compositions form the crux of one half of this double album.
Unsurprisingly, the result is a collection of soulful, vocal-based remixing of the likes of Focus, Terry Callier and Ultra Nate that together epitomise the rhythmically- concentrated preoccupation with programmed instrumentalism that 4hero have been developing since waving a decisive goodbye to their rave and jungle sounds of old.
Where this side of the album gets more interesting is when 4hero divert from their familiar vocal mould, and let the instruments do the talking. On both Marcus Valle’s ‘Escape’ and their own ‘Naime’ (bonus track) a tight understanding of jazzy Latino composition is revealed, where gorgeous saxophone rushes and catchy Samba hooks demonstrate that 4hero’s over-reliance on the voice is simply unnecessary.
One genre where the first half of the album finds common ground with its accompanying partner (of other artists remixing 4hero’s output), is in a historical connection to the Metalheadz label. Take 4hero’s lounge-jazz take on Goldie’s momentous ‘Inner City Life’ or indeed the Metalheadz remix of ‘Universal Love’, which is in itself of such quality that it could easily slot in between tracks on Goldie’s landmark debut album.
Marcus Intalex & ST Files also deliver a hefty chunk of liquid funk on ‘Better Place’ and ’9 by 9′. But where the remixing prowess comes into its own is on the Bugz In The Attic’s mighty grooved-up, firmed-up version on ‘Hold it Down’. This dancefloor heavyweight is matched only by Jazzanova’s double bass-led breakbeat translation of ‘We Who Are Not As Others’ – a familiar track to any would-be Jazzanova or 4hero fan.
Dancing shoes aside, the soulful Hip Hop groove and laid-back raps of Butterfly on the Visioneers mix of ‘The Action’, raises a perplexed eyebrow as to why 4hero don’t work with emcees more. The result is classy and provides a more than welcome break from the plethora of female voices spanning over the 150 minutes+ of this collection.
While ‘The Remix Album’ does have its shortcomings (a slightly cheesy Restless Soul mix of ‘Ways Of Thought’, a slightly dull 4hero mix of Yellow Magic Orchestra’s ‘Indo’, a slight over-reliance on soulful vocals, and a slightly regretful feeling that 4hero don’t play live these days), the faults here are indeed slight!
As a semi-anthology, this album documents the considerable musical development of a couple of jazz-lovers feeling their way out of a mid-90s affection for all things electronic and into the realm of diverse organic instrumental composition, always maintaining one ear in the headphones and the other on the dancefloor.
Words: Barrydark
4hero ‘The Remix Album’ is out Monday 29 March on Raw Canvas Records
DJ Dates/Remix LP DJ Tour Dates:
6th March – Birmingham (Dego)
6th March – Venice, Italy (Marc)
11th March – Istanbul (tbc)
12th March – Antwerp
14th March – Amsterdam
16th March – Dublin
26th March – Helsinki
27th March – Estonia
28th March – Co-Op (London) – 4hero Album Launch Party
29th March – Paris
10th April – Porto (Portugal)
11th April – Lisbon (Portugal)
24th April – Paris (Twisted funk party) 4hero Album Launch.
12th May – Brighton (UK)
20th May – Amsterdam (U-Diesal-Music Awards-BBB Arena)
29th May – Eindhoven – Holland
30th May – Den Hag – Holland
