MO’ BETTER BEATS

Rip It Up, Issue 232, 1 December 1996, Page 26

MO’ BETTER BEATS

SEAL Fly like An Eagle (Warners) From the forthcoming Christmas movie Space Jam, starring Bugs Bunny and Michael Jordan, this is an obvious radio sell-out. But Seal has so much' class it doesn’t really matter, he sounds great and totally updates this 70s classic from Steve Miller. Self-pro-duced by Seal, it’s very crisp. R KELLY I Believe I Can Fly (Warners) Also from the same movie, and guess what — another obvious radio sellout. R Kelly is finally hitting form, which is one way of saying I’m finally starting to like his stuff. Sort of, I’ll never be a huge fan. This is kinda nice, with a choir and ‘The Motown Romance Choir’ providing lush strings. EN VOGUE Don’t Let Go (East West From the Queen Latifah movie Set It Off, this is kind of a new sound for En Vogue. It kicks off with a bit of dirty guitar and rock drums, but descends quickly to MOR. It is — ahem — another obvious radio sell-out. I guess everyone wants a hit for Christmas, particularly the movie producers. Based on En Vogue’s earlier great work this disappoints. UCC The Key, The Secret . (Festival) Previously released, this is the remix version, as remixed by current flavours Armand van Helden and Dancin’ Divaz. Of the two, van Helden’s is the best mix, but both retain the powerful vocals of Diane Charlemagne. If you’re high on a happy vibe you’ll love this. . ROZALLA Everybody’s Free (Festival) When you run out of ideas, just remix an old hit — right? Still, there’s life in the old dog yet. This is a dance (pop) anthem, so it can stand a bit of freshening up for 96. What am I saying? Pleeease! Actually, the 13-minute ‘Casino Resurrection Mix’ is quite interesting, at times sparse, at other times thumping. Tony De Vit’s ‘Club Mix’ goes for a harder sound, but when you retain the vocals, we 11... This is strictly for the new breed of DJ — the one who now plays only off CDs. M-DOC FEATURING CHANTAY SAVAGE It’s A Summer Thang (Festival) Phew, six mixes in all, so he’s taking himself kind of seriously. Never mind the quality, feel the width. Actually this is something I won’t mind hearing on high rotate on my radio this summer. This is smooth, with a great R&B beat, very crisp indeed. Club DJs can go with the up tempo ‘Summer Funk Mix’, while slow jam fans should enjoy the laidback ‘Underground Gangsta Mix’. Chantay Savage does deserve billing, her voice positively roars over. this track.

SWOOP Do That to Me One More Time (Festival) Looking at the cover I thought it was another of those naff techno covers of an old 70s hit (originally done by the Captain and Tennille, they were huge — kids, ya don’t wanna know). Mercifully it’s not techno, and surprisingly it’s not naff. Well, not too naff anyway. Actually, only the ‘Remix’ is okay, it features a hip-hop drum loop. For radio they do it without the hip-hop drum loop and stick with an almost a cappella, unplugged kind of sound.

NICK D’ANGELO