The Prodigy - Experience (1992)

Prodigy's debut album is the soundtrack to my early childhood. I remember the exact day when my mum, coming back from one of her business trips to London, brought me their CD. She clearly had no idea what she was buying, and neither did I...until I whacked the disc into my CD player...Fast forward a couple of weeks, and you'll see me and my friends play fighting to the sounds of 'Out of Space' (however embarrassing it may sound now, we thought we were the dogs bollocks!). Since then, The Prodigy have always held a special place in my personal sonic landscape; and rightly so - the 'Experience', as well as their two next albums ('Music for the Jilted Generation' and 'The Fat of The Land'), are really top class material.

Released in 1992 on XL Recordings in the UK and Elektra in the US, the Experience paints a very colourful picture of early 90s Britain, which (at least in the underground) was this hot'n'heavy collage of sweaty rave, fast-paced jungle and jaw-gurning hardcore. From this lethal combination, fueled with the digital power of synthesisers, beat machines and samplers, came Prodigy's debut album, which is basically a snapshot of urban life in post-Thatcherite England, with all its goodies (or should i say: good E's) ;)

The mastermind behind the group is none other than Mr. Liam Howlett, who produced all of the tracks and is the man responsible for this madness. The more widely recognized Keith Flint and Maxim Reality were merely dancers and MCs - check out the live recording of: 'Death of the Prodigy Dancers' (last track on the album) for a lil' demo of their drunken shouting.

The music, however, was solely Howlett's department and the guy is really a great producer. Nevermind the awesome, original and surprising sampling (vide the 'Charley Says' public information films for kids samples in 'Charly' or the iconic Max Romeo's 'Chase the Devil' sample in 'Out of Space'); nevermind the crazy, multi-layered breakbeats he created; nevermind the great sounds he managed to bring out of them synth-pads; he simply knew how to build fantastic tracks. Whenever I listen to his songs I have a feeling they are really well-thought out and that every 4-bar loop has its specific purpose. If you were to say that making electronic music is simply like playing with Lego bricks, then this guy would be one of them crazy motherfuckers that build 1:1 replica's of Darth Vader's 'Death Star' space ship from Lego.

Anyways, this album is a must-have. And, if you decide to go for the 2001 'Experience: Expanded' double-disc version, you're up for some b-side treats!

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Jaheim - Put That Woman First (Calibre Vocal Remix) (2003)

Todays musical journey will lead us to the realm of broken beats. Our guide for the trip will be the Belfast-based drum and bass producer who goes by the name of Calibre.

Dominick Martin, as this is his real name, got into the production scene quite late - his first release came out in 1998 on Quadrophonic, a short-lived Irish label (operated only for 2 years and had only 5 releases). He then later grabbed the attention of the legendary DJ Fabio, who signed him to his Creative Source label and helped him release, among other, fine EPs, his first album - the critically-acclaimed 'Musique Concrete' (2001). Two years later, Calibre starts his own label - Signature Records - which operates as an outlet primarily for his own productions and collaborations. Apart from that, he also runs Soul:r together with the Mancunian Marcus Intalex and ST Files.

Calibre is a very prolific producer, with a vast number of tunes signed under his moniker. He has worked with the likes of: Zero Tolerance, A-Sides, High Contrast, Klute, Bailey etc. etc...trust me, the list goes on and on....His records have been released on such influential labels as: Defunked, Samurai Red Seal and LTJ Bukem's Good Looking Records, among others.

The tune I've selected for you today is a remix of a 2002 "r'n'b" (*ekhm*) song, by Jaheim, called: 'Put That Woman First', which comes off his platinum album: 'Still Ghetto' (wink, wink, nudge, nudge). I haven't heard the original until today and, to be honest, it's nothing special, really, but not bad either. Just a lil' love song with a not-that-bad-at-all beat, a chilled-out guitar and some background keys and strings. Jaheim's baritone voice, I believe, is the strongest part of the tune...and that's precisely what Calibre must've thought, cause his remix seems to only have the vocal part in common with the original.

I think Calibre did a great job by turning this 'comme ci comme ça' song into a great, great drum and bass tune. It's really simple when you think of it. 

He took the vocal from the original, picked the nicest bits and sliced them up to his liking.

He added a fantastic beat - really soft and pleasant and not-so-in-your-face, like it usually is in drum and bass. It has a very delicate kick drum with a slight roll on the 1st and 3rd beat, a flat and bright snare and a rather pleasant, soothing hi-hat on the semi-quavers. Well, the beat just rolls and rolls throughout the tune giving it a really nice, 'liquid drum and bass' vibe.

Having done that, Calibre came up with an, again very simple, melody line. It consists of 3 major seventh chords (Emaj7, F♯maj7 and G♯maj7, if I'm not mistaken) played out on the piano (with an oscillating filter) and a bassline (which constantly plays the same motif, but its pitch alternates by a major second after every bar). Both the piano and bass complement each other very neatly, creating an awesome, groovy melody.

As y'all can see - simple, yet bloody powerful and just plain g-o-o-d!

Part of the success of the tune should, however, be attributed to the person responsible for the mastering - i.e. Beau Thomas of Masterpiece Media, London. He's a much sought for engineer, having mastered releases of such artists as: Above & Beyond, Total Science, Commix, Logistics, Ed Rush & Optical, Alix Perez, Rusko, Pendulum, Booka Shade etc. etc. 

This guy is the reason why this tune just sounds so freakin' good!

Well, here it is - Calibre's fantastic remix of Jaheim's 'Put That Woman First'. It was released on a White Label, however it does have a sticker on it which says: 'Warner Music UK Ltd.'. Anybody wanna solve this mystery?

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