Artist: Kinnie Starr
Title: Alright
Label: Release Records
By: Simon Jones | 21 March 2004
Tracklist:

• A1: Hybrid Toronto Tech Dub
• B1: Blackwatch Vocal Club Mix
• B2: Blackwatch Radio Dub

Kinnie Starr "Alright"

For their latest release, Release Records deliver the first of many different projects that they have lined up for the coming months. Whilst Kinnie Starr may be a relative unknown to those in the underground scene, she has become well known throughout North America over the past decade, and is about to release her third album 'Sun Again'. One of the standout tracks of the album is first single 'Alright', which Release have gained the right to and commissioned some remixes to take the track into arenas it normally wouldn't find itself in. On the one side we have Blackwatch, on the other we have Hybrid, as both of these heavy hitters add their own touch to the track.

Hybrid's 'Toronto Tech Dub' builds itself around is subtle key changing bassline that is a vintage element of Hybrid's sound over the past years. Acoustic guitar licks are weaved into the rolling groove and Kinnie's vocals are scattered throughout the layers of percussion that wash over the groove. Only a single chorus is used in the centre of the track, as the focus is placed on the hypnotic drums and warm guitar hooks that fill out this dub, and whilst fans of Hybrid's sound will quickly become hooked, it's retro leanings may find it being one of those tracks you will either like or you won't.

When you speak of basslines, the name 'Blackwatch' springs to mind. As one of the best creators of bass driven music in the business, it's no surprise that his 'Vocal Club Mix' of 'Alright' features those killer bass elements that have typified his sound since his early productions. Simple percussion drifts over and under the groove, whilst Kinnie's vocals float softly over the top, spinback effects and atmospheric fills beefing up the drums, with the final touch coming from some superb live guitar played by Blackwatch himself. Blackwatch delivers a cool interpretation that will work well in an after hours environment, and manages to bridge the gap between the dancefloor and mainstream with his equally impressive 'Radio Dub'.

Backing such an ambitious project could have backfired in Release's face, but with the superb A&R team behind the company's labels at the moment, each remixer adds a distinct touch and appeal to the track, and with more mixes to come and other projects including remixes of tracks by another Canadian outfit by the name of Girl Nobody, it would seem this new tangent that Release are exploring could turn out to be very lucrative for us vinyl junkies indeed.