Various Artists
"ROCK TO THE BEAT - The Ultimate New Beat Collection" (1999, Antler Subway/PIAS, 444.0022.23)
Songs (click on the -icons
for a small audio-sample) CD
1 :
1. A Split Second : Flesh
2. Erotic Dissidents : Move you Ass & Feel the Beat
3. Snowy Red : Euroshima
4. Electric Shock : Don't talk about sex
5. In-D : Virgin in D-Sky
6. Dirty Harry : D-Bop
7. Taste of Sugar : Hmmm Hmmm
8. Public Relations : Public Relations
9. Fatal Error : Fatal Error
10. Nux Nemo : Hiroshima
11. 2 DJ's : The Creation
12. PLB System : Just Like This
13. Mac Sample: House Inspector
14. Jade4U : Rock It To The Bone
15. Tragic Error : Tanzen
CD2
1. Amnesia : Ibiza
2. Confetti's : Sound of C
3. Beat Professor : Beat Professor
4. Jamie Principle : Baby wants to ride
5. 101 : Rock to the beat
6. Lords of Acid : I sit on acid
7. Rhythm Device : Acid Rock
8. L&O : Even Now
9. Code 61 : Drop the deal
10. B-Sides : Compression
11. Kate B : Breakdown
12. Westbam : Monkey Say, Monkey Do
13. Tragic Error : Klatsche in Die Hande
14. Grauzone : Film 2
15. Arbeid Adelt : Death Disco
My opinion
"The Ultimate New Beat Collection" : who makes up those slogans
? Newbeat producers with a lot of good memories to the state of their bank accounts
back in 1990 perhaps, and who can blame them. "Ultimate" could stand
for "the last", "the definitive" collection, which might rejoyce
the haters of this genre hoping this will truly be the last we hear from it, or
could it rather be "ultimate" as "the biggest" and "the
best" newbeat-compilation, which might rejoyce those that do love the genre.
This classification is probably even not completely overrated : 30 songs, over
140 minutes of sluggish beats - you have to wade your way through New Beat Take"
1 to 4 or a lot of second-hand vinyl-boxes on the average Belgian garage sale
to find more new beat concentrated in one place.
To lament about "So sad, they like this new beat, their feet don't dance
on nothing else no more" is not necessary anymore. This beat is certainly
not "new" anymore, because it has been succeeded by thirty-something
other trends that have been ever so important in steering the dance genre. But
still, it cannot be denied that it was phenomenon ten years ago. In this hotchpotch
called Belgium, a radical encounter of (part of) the dance-circuit and (part of)
the underground happened.
On musical terms, this blended into a music that had the dark beats & bass
of the electronic body music (as was pioneered by front
242, a split second e.a.) and the playfullness and trance of early acid. With
this renewed acquaintance with the genre, it struck me that new beat was much
darker and "alternative" than I could remember. Moreover, it turns out
that there was quite a bit of diversity within the genre : there is even little
in common between included tracks such as Snowy Red's dark "Euroshima"
and Westbam's "Monkey say, monkey do".
The other peripheral phenomena of the clash between dance and underground were
a lot less tastful (the amusing liner notes by English Richar Noise stirred up
quite a few memories in that respect - remember the "New Beat Fashion",
the hairdo's of the Confetti-girls, the rancidity of the samples and the group-aliases),
but as far as I can see, there no immediate danger of a revival of those aspects
of the trend. Without those, "Rock To The Beat" delivers a terrific
sample card of a phase in the history of dance music.
And your opinion?
Did I get it all wrong, or was I spot-on ? Do you want to share your opinion about
this cd ? Send it in, and I'll put it up here !
This Album in the Press
- The New Beat
Info File : "Well, I suppose that I don't need to state the
obvious -- that releasing a double CD of rare Belgian New Beat hits is a great
idea!! ... You can be proudly out of step with the modern trends, and listen once
more to a selection of tracks that dare to be different, perhaps somewhat cold
and mechanical in sound, somewhat quirky and somewhat goofy at times as well (but
still slamming!!), and that still manage to be much cooler and more original than
a lot of the stuff that has invaded the world's dancefloors since! ... Get it
while you can!"
Did you see a good (or bad) review of this album ? Tell
me about it !
Where to buy this CD ?
You can order this CD from a number of locations (prices researched on December
28th, 1999, but nothing guarantees they still are the same when you read this).
The lowest price is in yellow, the highest in red. This price comparison doesn't
take things into account like deduction of shipping expenses when ordering more
than 1 cd, bonus points, differences in guarantees ... Shipping prices are those
for customers in Belgium.
Have you seen this record elsewhere on the net, do you own an online-CD-shop
with Belgian products in it, or if there's something wrong with my calculations
: let me know.
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