The remix album format is becoming a pretty familiar part of Talkin Loud's output and who can blame them when they have access to this kind of production talent. Just to pick a few at random, this release includes interpretations of last year's Incognito opus from Masters At Work, Carl Craig, Spacek and MJ Cole.
So, this album can't fail to deliver a few gems. The obvious pick would be Tom Middleton's euphoric mix of 'It Ain't Easy', Carl Craig's Planet E mix of 'Out Of The Storm', Ski's 'I Can See The Future' and Jazzanova's typically precise funk workout on 'Get Into My Groove'. Unquestionably a highlight on the original album, 'Fearless' is pointlessly afro-funked by Blaze who give it a bouncing, grinning rhythm that seems completely incongruous with the original Latin-feel. Masters At Work get a little excessively smoooth on 'Nights Over Egypt', a cover never destined to do justice to The Jones Girls' impeccable original. Jazzanova reassemble 'Get Into My Groove' along similar lines to previous remixes for Ian Pooley and Tate's Place and reveal a further erring towards their unique take on the UK garage sound.
Always an interesting exercise, re-working an entire album can't fail to produce rather more exciting results than the average commercial remixing imperatives. Nonetheless, like the 4 Hero project before it, this is bound to lack the coherence that many expect from an album. Those who'll be snapping up the multiple vinyl format won't be worrying about it to much though.
