Album Review

The Black Ghosts – Mixtape

• 14th Feb 2008

As the final touches are added to their forthcoming artist album, Theo & Simon have compiled and mixed ‘The Black Ghosts Mixtape’. Darkly atmospheric but always aimed at the heart of the dance-floor, their two-man Decks, FX and vocals set-up manoeuvres through Machiavellian grooves with disarming verve, providing a snapshot of the band’s live psyche, unearthing further clues to the band’s essence.

A thunderous intro drops into the digital riffs of Boy 8-Bit’s ‘The Suspense Is Killing Me’, setting the tone for an hour of deeply infectious supernatural sounds. Switch’s mix of Armand Van Helden’s ‘Je T’aime’, the pummelling throb of SMD and Karisma’s retouch of Ben Westbeech’s subterranean soul are blended with an imperceptibly deft touch before Simon makes his first vocal appearance on the sublime live re-version of the Black Ghosts’ own ‘Something New’. The towering Rustie, Frankmusic, as retooled by Theo & Simon, an old skool tinged Boy 8 Bit reappearance, Icelandic p-funksters Trabant and the germanic disco of Siriusmo take you deeper into the mix as the terrain changes with each cut and blend, before the pace drops for the digital dub vibes of Proper Villains’ ‘Trick Baby’.

Simon’s solo outing as Lord Skywave and a fleeting snatch of Alter Ego’s speaker busting bass workout reignite the tempo, segueing blissfully into a Black Ghosts refix of Gossip’s ‘Listen Up’ and the extended mix of their own ‘I Want Nothing’ that leads into the home straight dominated by the filmic funk of their own productions. Touche’s serrated mix of Fil OK drops into the Replicants’ rendering of ‘Some Way Through This’ as Bonde De Role’s ‘Marina Gasolina’ heralds the first of three appearances from the feted Fake Blood unveiling his industrial funk, retouching the bailie funk upstarts before his own ‘Mars’ comes smashing into the mix. Switch adds his own inimitable touch to Black Ghosts ‘Face’ and Mancunian electro-pop masterminds The Whip feel some Black Ghosts love, before a double helping of the ghetto-gothic ‘Anyway You Chose To Give It’ wraps up proceedings in superfly style.

Here’s a remix/mashup they’ve done for free download. [link]