Fatboy spins wicked beats at Mayan
By Daily Bruin Staff
Oct. 25, 1998 9:00 p.m.
Monday, October 26, 1998
Fatboy spins wicked beats at Mayan
MUSIC: Norman Cook has audiences dancing to electronica’s
groove
By Trinh Bui
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
It’s an hour before Thursday night sleeps. Friday morning opens
its listless eyes to the audacious beats of Fatboy Slim blasting
awake the baby dawn.
Spinning the vinyl last Thursday at downtown’s The Mayan, Slim
celebrated his latest batch of disco-flavored debauchery.
Courtesy of Norman Cook, a.k.a Fatboy Slim, the night hours of
eleven to two woke up the tired and injected everyone with a dose
of Big Beat ecstasy. Sorry, no snooze button here to offset
Fatboy’s easy-living musical mentality.
"You’ve Come a Long Way, Baby," the follow-up to Fatboy’s superb
electronica debut "Better Living Through Chemistry," offered a bit
of darkish moody drum Å’n’ bass undertones by the Brighton
bloke. But don’t fret, Slim still knows how to blow up with the
happy and campy sounds that make Big Beat music the fun-loving
little sister in the electronica family.
The night’s set followed the rules of the disc jockey (DJ).
Fatboy took liberties with songs from fellow electronica artists
Chemical Brothers and Prodigy, remixing staples like "Brothers
Gonna Work it Out" and "Breathe."
Decorated in the technicolor wash of red, green and blue lights,
Slim’s concoction of light-headed bass samples fused with rap
lyrics and off-handed blurps brings back the classic image of the
old-school rapper and his trusty DJ dropping ill beats and lyrics
at a warehouse party.
Soaking in the atmosphere were a mixed group of industry suits,
curious onlookers and a bevy of dance fiends.
Behind the turntables, the gaunt Fatboy led the procession of
fans in busting out the moves with a continuous outpouring of
chopped-up versions of his big hits. For the fans diligence, Slim
let out an arsenal full of what he does best: discoesque harmonies
with cheeky random quotes.
What makes Slim’s music a cut above the rest of his Big Beat
compatriots is his affinity to match hip-hop with catchy guitar
treatments
A venerable remix master, Slim pulls even the uncoordinated to
dance. His ability to take another man’s work and add funk and
groove to the music makes his show an unending rhythmic
tantrum.
"Renegade Master," a collaboration between Slim and Wildchild,
lets loose a mad torrent of wicked flurries of synthetic effects.
Wildchild shrilled the lyrics and Slim layed down the deep, heavy
harmonies that got people jumping around.
Rushing in with the fastest beats per minute of the night,
"Master" blisters with party attitude and disrespect for mainstream
acceptability. With the ultimate "screw the hype" mentality of hard
dance fans, "Master" was made for the dance floor.
Not all of what Fatboy spun came out smooth. His constant use of
looping a lyric over and over without any music broke the flow and
lent nothing to the songs. Slim also tends to overuse bringing a
pitch to its peak and collapsing it with all the other melodies.
Granted it makes for great dancing, but it wears thin quickly.
At one point in the show, the speakers echoed a phrase
suggesting Fatboy was having sex in heaven. If that is the case,
thank god he let us watch.
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