Yet another track from 2023 that I didn't pay enough attention to at the time and have been playing a lot in the last week is Amnesia by Radio Slave and Cagedbaby. It's as un- January as you can get, a glorious tribute to the Balearic Europop of mid/ late- 80s Ibiza, named after the famous nightclub.
Built around uplifting synths and pads, a Soul II Soul drum shuffle the Public Enemy/ Madonna 'Justify My Love drum break, widescreen atmospherics and a hushed vocal singing, 'surrounded by love', it's an extended 80s 12" mix that recalls that holiday you never went on/ never wanted to come home from. It's been raining all week, it's 4th January- take me to an airport.
7 comments:
I've been lovin' this one too, lovely sunkissed breaks, RadioSlave manages an impressive balance of retro that does not sound dated.
Despite the fact that it should probably be for me - I like both Thomas and Radio Slave's other stuff, I like breakbeats and have been known to indulge in Ibiza-themed music - I really don't like this track at all. It's just way, way too obvious for me. The words are a roll call of Ibiza cliches and surely using the bloody Funky Drummer break should be forbidden by now. The whole thing feels a little bit like it's insulting your intelligence, IMO. Really a cringe moment for me first time I heard it and continues to be! Hopefully none of them read this as I do really rate both producers.
That's not funky drummer - it's Pussyfooter by Jackie Robinson, as used in PE - Security of The First World and famously by Madonna in Justify My Love. I personally think it's a pretty clever usage because it in perfectly invokes the nostalgic feeling they are alluding to here.
Well I'll be, I thought that PE sample was the funky drummer slowed down. Anyway, it's over-familiar, as are the sentiments and the vibe. I understand they are trying to evoke nostalgia, but I just found it a bit ham-fisted. No surprises, no cleverness to make you appreciate the elements anew.
Good to have an opinion splitter. Dunno why I said in the post its the Soul II Soul drumbeat when it's clearly the Justify My Love beat.
Swiss Adam
Over-familiarity is a relative concept, but as you say, horses for courses. If you're writing a paean to an Ibiza night club who's high-water mark was 1987, I'd say that the classic Ibiza sonic tropes are fair game!
A more than reasonable take! And having done the same thing a few years ago, including the use of some obvious references, I have exactly zero legs to stand on.
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