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Danny Byrd ft. I-Kay - 'Ill Behaviour'

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Fraser McAlpine | 10:46 UK time, Tuesday, 21 September 2010

Danny Byrd

Oh HELLO! This is a bit more like it.

Clearly the world of drum and bass is a broad church. There is room for doomy, scary things, there is room for bright, sparkly things, and there is room for lively, geezerish things. If I had to express a preference - and let's be clear, this is a REVIEW on a BLOG, that's opinion times personal equals probably won't see things the way everyone else does - it would be for the sparkly/geezer end of things, rather than the doomy/scary.

And this is because, for me, dancing is not about pulling an angry face. It's about letting all that stuff go, and surrendering to the healing, improving qualities of dynamic, uplifting music. It's about sound pummelling the base of my neck like a masseur, beating the cares of the world out and lifting me up and out of the mire.

Throw in a bunch of stuff about pestilence and horror, and I'm back to worrying again.

(I can't show you the video, because of an obscene hand gesture. Which is a shame, because it's a brilliant edit of old and new concert footage. I spotted Richie Havens, John Bonham from Led Zeppelin and Damon Albarn in his younger Blurrier days. Anyone else see anyone else? Who've I missed?)

This hits the spot astonishingly well. For starters it's about NOTHING AT ALL, so the mind is free to roam wherever it wishes. Then there's the deft production touches - the rising siren in the second verse, the little beat drop-outs here and there - that all helps to keep things fresh. It's always nice to feel like you're progressing through a song rather than experiencing the same basic minute of music four times before the fadeout.

And these are just icing on the cake, a very dense, layered kind of cake which is largely made of high-speed syncopation and juddering bumquake bass, expertly sliced and presented with a creamy layer of roboticised voice noises, and a delicious spiralling breakdown for afters. And we all like cake, don't we? That's right we do.

Actually that's kind of the point. Some of us might not like cake. Some of us might like cake usually but today might just be in the mood for a sandwich. Or crisps. Or some fruit. Currently, at this point in time, I like this cake a LOT. Tomorrow, when its delicious effects have worked their magic on my frail human body, who knows? That's part of the fun.

Five starsDownload: Out now


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(Fraser McAlpine)

"A groove is essential in a lot of settings but being able to shock a crowd's ears out of boredom in a big rave is DJ-ing 101."

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