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The Underwolves "UnderYour Sky Remix EP"
A1 "Shaken" - Fauna Flash Drum & Bass Mix |
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The Underwolves "Under Your Sky Remixes"
1. "Bird Song" Earthbound Remix (Slow Version) - 6.40 |
1. "Bird Song" Earthbound Remix (Slow Version)
A great rework of the masterpiece ballad "Bird Song" by the Straight Ahead boys Earthbound from Switzerland. Putting the original in a deep off-beat environment, they created a slightly darker and very dense atmosphere for the track. This remix is different to the 108bpm version, which is on the "In The Picture" 12" (JCR 017).
2. "Under Your Sky" Origin Unknown Remix
Origin Unknown aka Andy C and Ant Miles are one of the biggest players in the Hardcore / Drum & Bass unerground since the beginning of the 90ies. Several 12inches and LPs on RAM Records, plenty of award winnings for Best Album, Best Producer, Best Remixer - to name but a vital few they made remixes for Roni Size, Busta Rhymes, Grooverider or Adam F – Origin Unknown certainly are a very sought after production duo in the dance area. The remix of "Under Your Sky" comes in best quality; the trademarks are tight production and a dark & heavy bassline. Origin Unknown's classic track "True One" from 1995 was re-released in April 2002 including new mixes from the Ram crew on double 12".
3. "So Blue It's Black" Heavy Manners Remix
The Heavy Manners Mix by DJ Pulse and Professor Stretch uses only few vocal samples and puts the main focus on the beats – which are excellent. They will definitely not fail to rock the dancefloor. Headz-stuff.
4. "So Blue It's Black" Peshay vs Photek Remix
Probably two of the biggest names in the drum & bass area joined their forces to create a remix for The Underwolves' track "So Blue It's Black". The remix grows into a real stormer that surely needs some quality sound equipment for full pleasure and enjoyment. Play it loud !!
5. "So Blue It's Black"Juryman Aberasch Returns To Addis Voice Mix
Juryman's Aberash version is more on a jazzy tip. Breaks & Beats on speed, he spins out a nice mellow soundscape with gentle pulses. Juryman aka Ian Simmonds recently released the highly regarded longplayer "Return To X" on Studio K7.
6. "In The Picture" Intega Remix
Intega is a newly signed act on the Sonar Kollektiv imprint Aspekte Schallplatten. Their remix of "In The Picture"comes with West-London style broken beats and a fresh mixture of vocals and samples from the original version.
7. "Under Your Sky" - Divine Styler Without Rap Remix
Once again it's Andy C and Ant Miles doing a mix, this time under their Divine Stylers alias. It's all about Hip Hop here – instrumental beats & breaks at their best. Headz stuff !!
8. "Shaken" - Fauna Flash Drum & Bass Mix
This one is Fauna Flash's first take on "Shaken", here in their roots-minded style, drum & bass. Spaced up vocals and a heavy beat construct guarantue for some wild dancefloor action.
9. "Under Your Sky" - Spacek Mix
Spacek are south-londoner vocalist Steve Spacek, guitarist Edmund Cavill and drummer Morgan Zarate. The band are signed to Island Blue Records in the UK and rapper Mos Def's imprint Good Tree America in the United States. So far they released their acclaimed single "Eve" and their debut album "Curvatia". Their remix of "Under Your Sky" is brilliant - a wonderful downbeat version with a fantastic correlation between beat and bass, while the vocals add an extra special flavour to the whole construct.
10. "In The Picture" - Original
"In The Picture",so far was only available on the Off-Centre Vol.2 compilation on BBE Records. The track is "...a smooth r&b / nujazz / 2 step hybrid with slight latin feel..." (Plastiks, 09/01).
11. "So blue it's black" - Restless Soul Peaktime Mix
Phil Asher comes up with a superb House version under his well-known remix-name Restless Soul. As promo released by Island Blue in 2000, the track was heavily played by the likes of Gilles Peterson, Patrick Forge, Jazzanova, and all those lucky people who got hold of a copy.
12. "Shaken" - Fauna Flash Timbales Remix
One more time - Fauna Flash doing another remix – the superb Timbales Version of "Shaken". The Faunas in their new beloved role as tribal house masters once again prove that they are genius producer delivering top class music for the dance floor. "...Fauna Flash go MAW with their midtempo timbales mix" Plastiks 09/01
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The Underwolves "In The Picture EP"
A In The Picture (Voice Mix) |
What a nice little bundle !!
First of all, there is the fantastic "In The Picture" from the recent Off-Centre Vol.2 compilation on BBE Records. The track, definitely one of the highlights of the compilation, got a further polish by the boys; they added extra vocals – so the ‘voice mix' is even more soulful and a bit smoother than the original.
Secondly, Fauna Flash come along with their superb Timbales remix of "Shaken". The Faunas in their new beloved role as tribal house masters once again prove that they are genius producer delivering top class music for the dance floor. Watch out for another Fauna Flash mix in drum & bass style.
Track three is a great rework of the masterpiece ballad "Bird Song" by the Straight Ahead boys Earthbound from Switzerland. Putting the original in a deep off-beat environment, they created a slightly darker and very dense atmosphere for the track.
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The Underwolves "So Blue It's Black"
Maxi-CD
12" |
The fantastic soulful 'So Blue It's Black' in three different great mixes (the CD also contains the Original Version):
The Heavy Manners Mix by DJ Pulse and Professor Stretch uses only few vocal samples and puts the main focus on the beats – which are excellent. They will definitely not fail to rock the dancefloor. Headz-stuff.
Juryman's Aberash version is more on a jazzy tip. Breaks & Beats on speed, he spins out a nice mellow soundscape with gentle pulses. Juryman aka Ian Simmonds recently released the highly regarded longplayer "Return To X" on Studio K7.
Phil Asher comes up with a superb House version under his well-known remix-name Restless Soul. As promo released by Island Blue in 2000, the track was heavily played by the likes of Gilles Peterson, Patrick Forge, Jazzanova, and all those lucky people who got hold of a copy.
Now it finally gets a proper release and you can be sure the track will storm the dancefloors - one more time!!
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The Underwolves "Under Your Sky" CD Tracklisting
1. Stay A While 3:53 |
There are a couple of reasons why Ned Kelly and six foot three Professor Stretch decided to call themselves The Underwolves. Both are unusual and, more importantly, are clues to understanding the London – based duo's unorthodox but compelling music. The first concerns American author Cormac McCarthy, since the pairs 1996 debut single was called "The Crossing", after the second book in his Border Trilogy. Wolves feature heavily in that particular instalment, as survivors not just scavengers, and a shadowy counterpoint to it's damaged hero. Secondly, the duo began working together just as the British dance music scene was having it's horizons abruptly narrowed by the introduction of Criminal Justice Act, which directly targeted parties, raves and any gathering outside licensed premises. Shortly after the now infamous legislation became law in 1994 there was a brief period of resistance, with illegal festivities continuing regardless of the potential penalties (which included heavy fines and possible prison sentences). At the time, Ned was particularly impressed by a newspaper article that described these revellers as a rebellious underclass. They were individuals who refused to accept their lot and bit back instead. He felt the same way, hence the name Underwolves, an amalgamation, like the band, of apparently different but actually related influences.
Idiosyncratic figures with roots in different sections of the UK dance scene, Ned and Stretch were united by the desire to make music so well wrought it spreads beyond any sub-culture that may have originally spawned it. "We want," says Stretch, "to create something timeless."
Their debut album, "Under Your Sky", may have its roots in drum and bass but it also absorbs soul, jazz and hip hop into a sound bristling with power (Shaken), sophistication (In Between) and above all fine song writing. Consequently, you don't need to be an aficionado of hard step, jump up or any of the genre's sub divisions to embrace the passion of the tracks like "68 Moves".
"You've got to give people something to catch hold of," says Ned. "I don't think you can just say, here's our smoky instrumental album. A lot of people aren't going to accept that".
Unwilling to churn out a dozen hammering club tracks, they brought in Jeb Loy Nichols (behind an acclaimed album of it's own, the folk rock of 1997's Lovers Knot) to both provide vocals and song writing expertise. Other vocals are provided by Madeline Edgehill of all female reggae band ACABU and Ghetto Priest from African Headcharge, who Stretch remixed for 1998's Drums of Defiance project on Dub Guru Adrian Sherwood's On-U-Sound label.
The Underwolves have been attracting attention ever since early singles like 1996's "Nine Lives" on Filter and remixes, such as their elegant approach to Bim Sherman's "Can I Be Free From Crying". Both showed they are one of few artist to truly grasp the potential of drum and bass to do more than just fill a dance floor or disintegrate into over – blown concept albums. In part, this comes from their eccentric approach to making music. Stretch, classically trained and a self – taught engineer, handles all the technical details, while Ned, former DJ and jazz obsessive, cajoles, listens and generally points developments in the correct directions. Its not how most people do it but it works for them.
"Our heads are in exactly in the same place music wise," says Stretch. "His taste is so important and we like similar things. Jazz folk and soul with drum & bass".
He found Stretch in the mid Nineties, after the Jazz and rare groove scene he'd frequented began to cross-pollinate with the nascent drum & bass movements at clubs like That's How It Is. Ned had been part of still-born, vaguely trip hop band, The Messengers, for whom his new friend did some production work. While Ned had recently been blown away by drum & bass ("It sounded better than anything else. Bigger and more life like.") Stretch had his roots in the hardcore scene that this new music had sprung from, having been one third of the trio that produced Dance Conspiracy's string laden classic 'Dub Wars'. Stretch continued to record break beat tracks with old Dance Conspiracy partner DJ Pulse, including a remix of Alex Reece's 'Feel The Sunshine'.
Stretch's training was more formal but equally mercurial. Although he had been playing the piano from the age of five and sung in church choirs, he worried his parents by swapping the prospect of studying music at degree for hospital and pirate radio in Slough. It was through the latter that he met Chad Jackson, who had a 1990 hit with the sample heavy anthem 'Hear The Drummer Get Wicked'. He hung out in Jackson's studio, learning the ropes and exploring his massive collection of hip hop and soul records before joining forces with manager / producer Ron Tom, which resulted in studio work for British soul boy Don-e ad the initial development of All Saints.
It's Ned and Stretch's varied, wandering backgrounds that make 'Under Your Sky' a work of great emotional depth as well as eccentric beats. It's an album that doesn't fit any obvious pigeon hole other than that marked 'great record'. And that's all that matters.
After delivering their debut album at the beginning of 1999 the band were forced to sit back and while Island was bought out not once but twice, resulting in a staff merry go round with nobody in contact to make a decision. This resulted in the Underwolves leaving Island now Universal for German label Jazzanova-Compost Records (JCR), renowned leaders of the nu-jazz movement and co-run by Jazzanova to whom the band were tipped.
Luckily, the timeless nature of the music has increased awareness of the band slotting nicely between modern mellow soul nu-jazz and melodic drum n bass.
With the highly touted "In The Picture" on the Barely Breaking Even / Off Centre compilation and new remixes the band has become stronger and grown to now include Paula Crawford, Ghetto Priest, Madeline and Jeb Loy Nicholas along with long time production ally former Muki main man Jules Evans.
Having been bestowed with glittering plaudits from Gilles Peterson, Patrick Forge, Fabio and Jumping Jack Frost among others. A long-term future with Jazzanova-Compost (JCR) seems assured. This independent just having proved you don't need a major to sell 100 000 records, if the record is good.
Expect new remixes by Earthbound, Fauna Flash, Intega (Sonar Kollektive) as well as the already existing remixes by Restless Soul, Peshay vs. Photek, Spacek and Juryman (many versions were only available on promo release) on forthcoming 12inches.
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