Artist: Tom Mangan
Title: Backwards Retro
Label: Sabotage Systems
By: Simon Jones | 16 July 2003
Tracklist:

• A: Original Mix
• B: Cass Red Five Mix

Tom Mangan "Backwards Retro"

Hot on the heels of tracks such as 'Chutney' on Bedrock, and 'So We Can' on his own label Hood, Tom Mangan, engineer and producer of much of Cass's own solo output finally delivers his first solo single for Mr Cutbush's Sabotage imprint called 'Backwards Retro', and what a corker it is..

Tom's own 'Original Mix' sees him embark down a slightly more techy direction than his usual norm, trippy drum arrangements and a huge sub bass b-line pulsating deep in the heart of 'Backwards Retro'. It already sounds huge by this point and is only made larger by horn style electronic synths which slide in and out of the beats, shades of electro and techy percussion keeping this slammin cut pounding right until the end, ending the rollercoaster ride that smashes through barriers and defies restriction. A massive cut that takes things back to the roots but adds a devastating modern twist to things.

'Cass' meanwhile, opts for a speaker tweaking 'Red Five' breaks mix, starting off with some subtle broken beat action under which a hypnotic swirling sound edges in, and as the bass level is increased, this underlying sound really starts to fuck with your mind as the mix builds up in rough fashion. The horns are slowly introduced, leading into the main hook of the original, which rises out of gorgeous eastern style atmoshpheric sounds, only to descend into analogue edged action on the outro as the broken beats interrupt, edging out the sounds until there is nothing left. An innovative and well thought out remix from prog's most flatulent son.

Another tight release from the Sabotage camp, and with almost half a dozen new releases already signed and ready to rock over the coming months, it looks like all systems are go...