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Fatboy Slim
Palookaville
Skint Records
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Article
written by Paul M
Oct 20, 2004.
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Four years on from the somewhat underrated Halfway Between the Gutter and the Stars, and only a couple since his headline hogging marriage breakdown, Britain’s favourite party host is back, cheesy grin at the ready. Unsurprisingly, he’s not scuttled off entirely in a new musical direction; this is no garage rock thrash or country hoedown and his trademark big beeps and parpy honks are still there, though he doesn’t chuck them into the pot at every opportunity any more. In fact, bless him, he has even tried to add a little variety, with real instruments, including, gasp, guitars, popping up. No longer apparently is a Fatboy album’s sole focus to be a collection of floor fillers; here he dips a toe into latin, jazzy trip hop, er Britpop (a collaboration with Damon Albarn)…
It is however an album that thrills and disappoints in almost equal measure. Firstly the grumbles… The recent single, Slash Dot Dash, an extremely irritating looped catchphrase over a sub-Prodigy beat. There’s also a couple of straight and utterly pointless covers, including the Joker, that sit here as comfortably as a vegetarian in a black pudding factory. Fortunately even this ingenious song pilferer can’t bring himself to claim a writing credit for them. There’s also a few tracks that wash over or only briefly shine (such as the cute eerie whistled sample from the O2 mobile ad on the otherwise unremarkable Long Way From Home).
Luckily the old magic hasn’t completely gone though. Opener Don’t Let the Man Get You Down is built around a marvellous 60s folk vocal sample (“And the sign said long haired freaky people need not apply”). Additionally the splendidly jaunty Wonderful Night skips along to a cocky Fun Loving Criminals schmoove rap and North West Three is worthy and enjoyably pleasant swing (imagine Sade jamming with Tricky and Portishead).
It’s highly unlikely that this album will garner Fatboy too many new fans and its comparitively varied content may even alienate some of the old ones. However he certainly doesn’t deserve an exile to Palookaville quite yet.
Untitled Document
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