The Lovefreekz – Shine
Positiva Records
Catalogue Number: CDTIVDJ214
For those of you not familiar with the artist name on this one, here is a brief
` history of the record so far. English producer Mark Hadfield is the man behind
this late summer house smash that was a big tune towards the end of the Ibiza
season. If the name isn’t ringing any bells, think Lucid and Loveland, just a
couple of the projects Mark has had more than a hand in. Shine originally
appeared on King 12 records and has now been picked up by the ever towering
commercial power of Positiva. The track itself samples the ELO classic ‘Shine
a little love’ which was around in 1979. The tune as you’d expect with being
on Positiva comes with a veritable legion of remixes.
01. Radio Edit
02. The Lovefreekz Club mix
03. Pete Heller’s Phela Style Club mix
04. Chosen Few remix
05. Jupiter Ace mix
06. Instrumental
The Lovefreekz Club mix
As you’d imagine the Radio Edit is based on the club mix as is the instrumental,
so there’s no need to review them as separate entities. As you’d expect from the
prologue this one kicks off with traditional style funky house beats, however
this track harks back to the then called disco house style of 98-99, aside from
the fact that it samples an old record, in terms of modern house this stands out
from the crowd as sounding really retro. It’s a simple formula as has been adopted
and had massive success in 2004, looped disco sample filtering it’s way through 6
minutes, with little time for rest bite apart from a small break during the middle
sector of the track. The tune kicks back in, chopped and phased before the 4/4’s
drop once more and we’re back to where we started. In fairness it doesn’t have
the annoyance factor of say Eric Prydz, but it works in a similar ilk. Throw in
some disco strings and 70s guitar twangs and there’s little else to comment on
here. Is it cheesy? Yes, but what disco house track isn’t? There’s a part of me
that is curious as to the timing of the release but if this doesn’t put a smile
on your face during a bleak mid winter then you obviously aren’t trying hard enough.
Harmless, although may not appeal to everyone, big cross over potential.
Pete Heller’s Phela Style Club mix
For an altogether tougher, proggier work out head for the more ‘credible’ Pete Heller
mix. House fans will forever hold Pete in high esteem for his all time anthem Big Love.
In truth, Heller’s come along way since his formulaic funky days, delving into more
progressive waters Stylus Trouble along with a host of remix along a similar theme
has shot him up in the estimations of prog fans on the more discerning dance floors.
I was very curious to see what the man could take from the rather minimal club mix.
Credit where credit is due, he’s done a fair job with this one. Dirty beats, and an
even dirtier bassline are the highlights of this, the track is stripped down, a back
against the wall job, and precious little remains of the other mixes bar a snippet of
the hook which just adds a touch of fun to an otherwise deep interpretation.
Chosen Few remix
This picks up where the Lovefreekz club mix left off, old skool vibes are clearly the
order of the day and there is evidence from the first 8 bars. Chunky beats with a whiff
of old-style speed garage 4/4 beats set proceedings off. However, that’s all the speed
you’re going to encounter with this, because we head quickly towards a huge air guitar
moment which is tamed by the familiar strings. It’s questionable whether it works, it’s
questionable who’d chose this mix over the others. However, when it kicks back in and
the rather large bassline wobbles beneath it starts to make a little more sense. It’s
important to emphasis only a little more. It’s house, but not as we know it.
Jupiter Ace mix
The Jupiter Ace mix attempts to adopt a more serious approach to the club mix, whilst
keeping many of the same elements. For the funky house jocks who don’t want to play the
original because of it’s obvious commercial edge may head for this version. The beats,
the bass and the overall feel is leaning a lot more towards the house sound of now.
The strings make it what it is, without them this would be an extremely boring track,
plenty of whooshes, plenty of filtering, yes it’s predictable but not bad. At the end of
the day it’s an average house track which won’t set the world a light but may feature
somewhere in the early stages of sets if only for a short while.
Overall, Shine is a pretty non offensive number, which will no doubt appeal to the same
kinds of people who propelled Eric Prydz to number one. It doesn't come as suprise to
say Judge Jules played this a few times either. As always with things like this, it’s
swings and roundabouts, house music of this style is flavour of the month for now,
but if more bandwagon jumping occurs people may look else where to escape the floods
of formulaic house. The package as a whole keeps its head above water thanks to the
Pete Heller remix.
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Review by Xalno
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