Title: Retro Resources
Record Label: Mobile Trax (UK)
Genre: House
Release Date: 17th October 2011
Music is constantly evolving with new sounds, genres and sub-genres emerging on what almost seem like a monthly basis; but there’s no escaping the fact that producers are constantly drawing inspiration from the past and bringing elements of early house into today’s releases.
After all, good music is timeless. The result can either be something which sounds fresh and new with a classic tinge, or it can end up sounding stale, boring and dated. The latter is not something you want from a remix album but when listening to ‘10 Years of The Littlemen’ I couldn’t help but think “if it aint broken, don’t fix it.”
With over 35 releases and remixes on respected labels such as Drop Music and Aroma Recordings, The Littlemen are celebrating 10 years since their first release with what is really a hybrid Best Of/Remix album on their own label, Mobile Trax. The Littlemen hail from Nottingham in the UK, a city renowned for house music and also the home of Inland Knights who take on remix duties with the track ‘Hit Dat Dog’.
The Littlemen – Retro Resources (Album) (Mobile Trax) (Preview Clips) by Kahua Music
Both sets of producers were heavily involved in the UK free party scene in the early 90’s and specifically the legendary ‘Smokescreen Sound System’ which consisted of DJ’s, sound and lighting engineers, a generator and PA system set up in old warehouses, woodlands, fields or quarries where parties were held for free! 10 years down the line we have an 18 track album consisting of the duo’s favourite original releases plus a selection of remixes of these tracks by some of their favourite producers.
Not content with leaving the likes of Justin Harris, Raoul Belmans and Ken ECB to cover the remixes, The Littlemen themselves have also given a 2011 revamp to the opening track ‘Attack Me’. The problem is, despite the list of producers and the variety of old and new, there is very little which stands out.
This bumping or jackin’ house sound is not for everyone and things do become rather repetitive but if this is your style of house at least the album affords fans an opportunity to pick up a reasonable chunk of The Littlemen’s back catalogue in one go.
REVIEW: Darren Rose
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