Overall the production, track ordering and cross-fades sound great. And the artwork and packaging transforms it from a great collection of songs into a brilliant homage to PWEI and tDR.
The Incredible PWEINATION vs The Moral Majority is a great way to get things started - perfect PWEI tribute and a teaser of some of the tracks to come.
Particular favourites of mine:
Sweet Sweet Pie - Carts Before Horses
Like the tharshiness and vocals giving an old track a new sound.
Inside You - The Penny Licks
In theory the idea of a female singing these lyrics should be completely ridiculous, but instead it amazingly becomes a really lovely perfect little pop song, sounding (not in a bad way) a bit like Dubstar.
Wise Up! Sucker - Jason & Paul vs The Vocal Minority
Ace. Can’t quite bring myself to say BTTO becuase I love the original so much, but the vocals, guitars and production sound great and fresh. Just makes me want to pick up a megaphone and scream “WIIIIIIIIISE UUUUP!!!!” and sing-a-long “bip bip bip bip bip bip bip…. Daaaaaaaaa”. A really great song. Great version.
There's so much more I'm enjoying too. Def Con Wan (E-Jitz) sounds great and well produced (has it changed since the You Tube version? I find myself enjoying the chorus and "Gimme Big Mac, Gimme fries to go" a lot more on this version...). Intergalactic Dub Mission (Project 13) is an excellent reworking that wouldn't be out of place on an Orb album. I love the funk/70s brass elements and the overall groove in Menofearthereaper (Arificial Human). The stripped back Urban Futuristic (Let's Get Lo Fi Motherfucker) was a real surprise, but I really like it. Also really like the rumbling bass in Babylon (7eventy6ix) which sounds a lot more like the original version, the instrumental Pretty Pretty (Jilm Jolm) (the "I can't hear you over the radio" sample has really stuck in my head), and the relentless pace and bass of PWEIzation (Bronx Zoo) as I'm not a huge fan of the original but there's a lot to like in this version.
But overall my favourite has to be The Fuses Have Been Lit (King Brown). Vocals sound great. The samples - both the sourcing of them and the way they're mixed in - shows a real labour of love. And at the point where the heavy guitars kick in with the strings I get goosebumps on my arms and my hairs stand on end. Brilliant. Great work.
Really proud to have been a part of this. Here's to volume two...
And a special shout out to my buddy Simon who's one half of Section 3 and couldn't be a part of this recording. Next time...
