First time round, U-Star Records played a vital role in the Idjut Boys’ production career. Over the course of a decade, the label not only provided an outlet for their dub-flecked house and disco productions, but also those by close friends and occasional studio partners Quakerman and Laj (AKA Raj Gupta, now better known as Ray Mang). The label fell silent in the early noughties after becoming a firm favourite with DJs, and has been all but dormant since.
Tuff City Kids, a duo famed for their retro-futurist blends of classic house sounds, Balearic attitude and punchy drum machine rhythms, have long been fans of the Idjuts U-Star output. Naturally, they jumped at the opportunity to put their spin on classic tracks from the label’s archive. Predictably, they’ve delivered a range of reworks that combine the best elements of their work with the Idjut Boys acclaimed original versions.
On the A-side you’ll find their revisions of in-demand 1994 workout “Phantom Slasher”. Their fine House Remix wraps McDonnell and Tyler’s original stabs and analogue bassline in sweaty new drum machine hits, fittingly doused in just the right amount of delay and reverb. By the time the revision reaches its’ sweaty conclusion – via some rave-inspired new elements and oodles of additional Latin style percussion – we guarantee that you’ll be dancing like a free party survivor after an all-night session in Sherwood Forest. It wouldn’t be a U-Star release with a fearsome, DJ-friendly drum track, and the German duo’s Tribales Bonus provides an appropriately percussive workout.
On the flip, the duo takes a different approach, delivering an Afro Cosmic Remix of “JestaTwaktingWhokTish” that combines the baggy, saucer-eyed flutter of vintage Italian dream house with the dubby bass and echo-heavy drums that have long been a hallmark of Idjut Boys productions. It’s warm, mesmerising, tactile and loved up.
In contrast, the duo’s rework of “Jazz Fook” – originally a sleazy chunk of dubbed-out, sax-laden deep house perfection – looks to the worlds of electro and freestyle for inspiration. Handpicked elements from the Idjuts original – the famously chunky, acid-inspired synth bassline and muscular, New York style stabs – dance around a thrillingly punchy beatbox rhythm. Throw down a square of lino and get to work.
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