Artist: Blackwatch & Greed
Title: Gentle Rain (Remixes)
Label: Release Elements
By: Simon Jones | 6 January 2004
Tracklist:

• A: Blackwatch Jacked Hi Mix
• B: Grayarea Dismembered Mix

Blackwatch & Greed "Gentle Rain (Remixes)"

Originally scheduled to be released on Ministry Of Sound America's F111 imprint before it folded, Blackwatch and Greed's 'Gentle Rain' has achieved it's own kind of legacy off white label, with copies changing hands on bidding website Ebay for in excess of $100. Now for those who missed out on the original promos, fear not as the track now gets an official release from those nice people at Release Records who have signed one of the mixes from the original doublepack and brought the track into 2004 with a mix from Grayarea. Need I say anymore? Probably not.. but I will anyway..

Blackwatch is the master of dubby basslines and grooves and his 'Jacked Hi Mix' is no exception to this. Pulsating swells and tight drum programming lead us into the mix, with a nice transparent downbeat groove just floating around haphazardly. Subtle guitar riffs provide backing for the laid back breakbeat rhythms and Lesley's vocals rise up and over the top smoothly line, with bottom end bass action sealing the deal rather nicely indeed. Almost two years on, and this is still one of Michael Thomas' best pieces of work.

Grayarea's reworking is a fresh take on the track after the trio heard the original and decided they wanted to mutilate it. However this is not the only reason it's called the 'Dismembered Mix' as will become apparent. Techy beats and rough breaks collide following some delayed effects leading in, with a big guitar solo introducing a devastating industrial groove. A thrashing bassline impacts like an atom bomb as Lesley's vocals sit right at the heart of things like a lost little girl caught up in the carnage, before the aftermath kicks in with a warbling guitar break leading into an torrential rainstorm of fucked up beats and bass for the finale. Grayarea deliver a beatdown and a half here, that will destroy all in it's path. You have been warned.

The wait has been more than worth it, as Grayarea deliver the dancefloor monster of a mix that this track needed, making this pair of warped mixes essential for those who aren't afraid of causing a little chaos and mayhem. Go on.. you know you want to.