Roni Size / Reprazent – Watching Windows
Label: Talkin' Loud – TLCD 31, Talkin' Loud – 568 605-2
Format: CD, Single
Country: UK & Europe
Released: 1998
Genre: Electronic
Style: House, Drum n Bass
This piece was written by Dan Digs and originally featured in issue four of DIG – copies of DIG Mag can be purchased here.
It’s 1998. Roni Size and team Reprazent have just emerged from a blisteringly good year with their debut album New Forms. The collective wound up winning the Mercury, and, more importantly, truly impacted the shape of drum 'n' bass to come.
But you already know this. Teleport yourself back to that summer, two decades ago, when the Brown Paper Bag bassline was ubiquitous. ’98 then sees Size & Co. release the album’s lone hip-hop-tempo track Watching Windows as a single, but they’ve redone the track as the Roni. Size. Vocal. Version. Sped up to the expected drum ’n’ bass speed.
And what’s this? Nestled riiiiiight at the back of the CD single version, which I snapped up on a cold winter’s day (aren’t they all?) at a London HMV one early afternoon, is track 4 of 4... all but hidden in plain sight, is a whopping 14-minute remix, by none other than Nuyorican Soul aka Kenny “Dope” Gonzalez and “Little” Louie Vega. Two musicians whose entire sonic output I steadily fell in love with during the previous year when they released their self-titled debut as Nuyorican Soul. To this day, it remains my very favourite album of all time. It was (and is) wide-eyed, ambitious and refused to follow any trends. Instead, it happily stood alone, simultaneously looking back, paying homage to hip-hop, disco, funk, soul, all nature of Latin sounds (specifically the New York and Puerto Rican musical heritage, Nuyorican, naturally) and simultaneously looking forward, redefining what the collaborative album could be, and raising the bar for other partnership acts to follow (and none would better this album). It was all wrapped up literally in cigar-box cover art, some copies rumoured to actually contain said cigar, bursting with joy, optimism, and deep talent from all parties involved.
At the time I vividly remember turning the pages of the CD booklet, myself fresh from ingesting a late 90’s electronic diet of Wall of Sound, Skint, Mo’ Wax and being so used to seeing my favourite artists all wearing Carhartt jeans and trainers.
But then look, look! Photography of Kenny, Louie, India, Jocelyn Brown, George Benson, and more. Stars all dressed up in suits, looking like kings and queens every one, having dinner (lobster!) at a NYC restaurant and/or supper club. The difference was astounding. But back to this remix which I want to tell you about. After having repeatedly played the thunderous DJ Die remix (track 3), the bass frequencies of which could start your car, it was time to finally check out track 4. A subtle beginning of electric key washes meets an eagle-high-above-the-canyon synth cry on the 1, which slowly gives way to a chunky drum-groove that fades in, accompanied by shakers.
Already we’re onto something special as the beat morphs into a rhythm that’s half-upfront-hip-hop, half-breezy-Latin sway. Onallee’s vocal echoes swirl and more percussion enters the fray, the groove is strong and gets stronger, rhythms are great and they get greater. We’re somehow now already 3 minutes and 40 seconds in, more drum patterns emerge, and at 4 minutes and 40 seconds the UFOs arrive and swoop low. A new beat starts and now we’re just getting started. There's chanting. It's utterly captivating. Already this is like no remix you’ve ever heard before. But then, at 6 minutes and 25 seconds, after several serious drums signify a coda, a new arrival is announced. Something familiar and yet completely different. What’s this? It's a textured Nuyorican rework of Roni’s Brown Paper Bag now all in the area with that bassline!
Embellished with roaming piano keys, all manner of drums are hit. The rhythm abides, the journey continues. 9 minutes, 29 seconds. An acoustic guitar frantically strums as cymbals splash and all bets are off. The guitar strings and fretboard get worked. The playing is breathless, weaving in and out of time. 11 minutes and 26 seconds. The playing almost gets belligerent but never loses its cool. At 11 minutes and 40 seconds we simmer again, that reliable bassline being as punctual as ever, and the track cools off. Synth strings are re-introduced as are some delectable funk squelches and more piano keys. We’re still grooving, grooving still, fully ensconced in a groove at once mystical but so welcoming. There's more chanting at 13 minutes and 24 seconds. The song is coming in to land, and all of a sudden it does.
One more filter sweep and it’s all over. 13 of your minutes and 57 of your seconds to be precise. A lifetime in less than 15 minutes, the greatest track you will ever hear. This remix, an old friend that you’ve known over many lifetimes already, is musicianship in it’s truest sense. Inventive, strong. Intricate, free. Natural, different. Familiar, hidden. Alive, so alive, so full of life.
Really enjoyed this read! I'll dig out the tune. I have It's Alright I Feel It, from the album you ref, on a test press and it's a prize possession! Such a great tune that I've pretty much worn out.