Fatboy Slim takes trip down memory lane
By CHRISTOPHER SHIPLEY
Scene Music Critic
When asked in 1988 to describe the music that he wanted to make, the answer for Norman Cook was the kind that would get people on the dance floor.
"I'd like to make a record that will always get put on at parties," Cook said.
As a musician and DJ, Norman Cook has known many faces. Cook is better known by the moniker Fatboy Slim and is the man that brought you club favorites like "The Rockafeller Skank" and "Going Out of My Head." Fatboy Slim's 1998 album You've Come A Long Way Baby went platinum several times and was critically acclaimed as the party album of 1998 and 1999.
"Collection" serves primarily as an anthology of the work Cook has done over the past 15 years. The man who would become known around the world as Fatboy Slim spent the first few years of his musical career in several different British groups that enjoyed success — but not longevity. As the bassist for Disque Attack and then the Housemartins from 1985 to 1987, Cook learned the tricks of the trade and finally returned to Brighton in the late `80s to start his disc-spinning days. The track "Payback," a tribute to the Godfather of Soul, James Brown, is taken from these early attempts and is one of the first vinyl albums Cook ever released.
Overwhelmingly, the record provides great tracks which show the roots of electronica. However, since most of the world had never heard of Fatboy Slim before 1996, many of the styles Cook experimented with — most notably dub and reggae —fall short of what we would expect from the man who has remixed for the Beastie Boys, A Tribe Called Quest and the Rolling Stones.
As a remixer under the collection of musicians known as Beats International, Cook produced a number of tracks which pay homage to reggae music. "The Sun Doesn't Shine" from Beats International, "Start an Avalanche" from rapper Shinehead and "Tribute to King Tubby" (a Jamaican pioneer of dub music killed in 1989) by Beats International all update Jamaican rhythms, but one is left wondering whether Cook should have left these dull tracks alone to begin with.
The rest of the album follows a lot of the same tricks that have made Fatboy Slim's other albums so popular. Big beats mixed with wonderfully obscure samples dominate the rest of the album. "The World is Made Up of This and That" by Deeds + Thoughts may be the most complex remix Cook has ever produced, and he often includes it in his live shows. Cook's Old Skool Mix of Wildchild's "Renegade Master" could be played to the delight of everyone at a party or club.
With remixes for A Tribe Called Quest and other pioneers of electronica on the record, this anthology is a must have for those who have followed Fatboy Slim's career with interest. It is an amazing trip down memory lane and shows what a long way Fatboy Slim has really come.
All Scene Stories for Tuesday, May 2, 2000
