X-Press 2 - Lazy - 2008

September 03, 2008

Fresh for the height of summer comes Lazy in all its original glory, with a bumper pack of ace remixes to boot. X-Press 2 and David Byrne are mangled, reinvented and rearranged by the likes of Motto Blanco, Freeform Five, Mowgli and Norman Cook, out September 22nd on Skint.

“We still play Lazy constantly and see the reaction it gets every time we play it,” says X-Press 2’s Rocky. “It’s one of those tunes that gets the kids, mums and dads singing along. Plus, we’ve accumulated some amazing new remixes and felt it was rude to keep them to ourselves. We also hope to spread the gospel to those who missed it first time round. That and we’re Skint.”

Esteemed London house producers Motto Blanco turn in a remix headed straight for Ibiza, adding pianos and strings with a (dare we say it) ‘funky’ bassline for optimum sun-kissed effect, echoing the ‘classic club’ mixes of yesteryear. There’s also a dub for added measure.

Mowgli deliver two quite different mixes, unified by their punchy, bouncy production. The ‘Wobblin mix’ kicks off with a breakbeat then morphs into 4/4, before the dreamy vocal gets cut off, replaced with a cheeky cry of “reeemix” and descending into bass heavy, fidget house - naughty. ‘Mowgli Goes Deep’ on the second of two, this time opting for a more traditional house sound, where David Byrne’s vocal waves drop in and out, over a hypnotic groove.

Freeform Five do their thing on their ‘Freeform Reform’ in a fast funk style, with a percussive, jittery re-work, heavy on the brass and sounding unlike anything we’ve heard. Last but by no means least, everyone’s favourite uncle Norman Cook houses it up, with a 90s bassline and tough drums, just the right side of commercial.

The story so far:

Rocky, Diesel and Ashley Beedle aka X-Press 2 have been friends since the inception of dance music, first as partygoers and soon after as DJs, producers and remixers. ‘Muzik-Xpress’/’London Xpress’ exploded onto the scene back in 1993, followed by the equally massive ‘Say What’, ‘Hip Housin’ and ‘Rock 2 House’.

They began regular DJ slots at some of the best clubs worldwide, whilst continuing their ubiquitous solo projects, plus group tracks, including the anthems ‘The Sound’ and ‘Tranz Euro Xpress’. The turn of the millennium marked a signing to Skint and the release of their debut album, the 100,000 selling ‘Muzikizum’. It spawned the dark, brooding behemoths that were ‘Smoke Machine’ and ‘AC/DC’, not to mention the Ivor Novello award winning David Byrne collaboration, UK # 2 and worldwide chart hit ‘Lazy’.

Following ‘Lazy’s massive success, families, clubs and more solo projects soon gave way to the creation of second album ‘Makeshift Feelgood’, which marked a creative move forward, more song-oriented and a bona fide artist’s album. Vocal collaborators included Kurt Wagner of Lambchop on ‘Give It’, a slow-building gospel-house epic, and Robert Harvey, of nu-baggy indie dancers The Music, on moody second single ‘Kill 100’. Last but not least, classic cover version ‘Witchi Tai To’ was perfectly voiced by Tim DeLaughter from The Polyphonic Spree.

Since then, the boys continue their passion for music, rocking the world’s premiere clubs, festivals and raves, and producing under various monikers. Prolific remixers, they have sprinkled a little magic onto dozens of classics by everyone from Missy Elliot and Kelis to Nitzer Ebb.

Catch X-Press 2 at across the UK and Europe this summer celebrating 20 years of Acid House. Don’t miss their Manumission residency after last year’s storming closing party.

5 September Global Gathering Seoul, S.Korea

6 September Tokyo Japan TBC

19 September Manumission Amnesia, Ibiza

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