The Way (Evil Nine Remix) This is one of Evil Nine's top remixes and is a must have release for all breakbeat afficianados, especially those that prefer it a dark and moody. A very, very strong percussively led track that for me, conjures up fantastic cinematic imagery due in part to the gritty moody attitude it conveys (think of the bank heist scene in Michael Mann's Heat). The percussive and distorted guitar elements prevalent in this track drive you along to such an extent that you are left feeling as if you yourself are on your way to some bank in downtown LA to take it down. The whole track breaks down perfectly at the midway point with all the heavy drums and other percussive loops dropping out leaving only the most minimal of skipping beats clicking away gently somewhere in the middle distance. In the background, a distant rumbling is faintly audible, which hangs and hangs and keeps hanging for what seems like an eternity before...BANG! everything kicks back in but this time with a really sexy additional chopped up drum loop, which zips just above the surface. Awesome. Top shelf UK breakbeat music for those that like to score big.

For those of us lucky enough to catch Hybrid on their recent (2004) tour of Australia, the track Blackout might sound somewhat familiar. That's beacuse they used it with vocals and mandolin samples from REM to form a remix of "The Great Beyond". I imagine this wasn't exactly legal, so they used the track together with vocals from Kirsty Hawkshaw to produce Blackout (a top tune in it's own right). This situation is reminiscent of when they remixed Alanis Morissette's "So Pure" and were then forced to release it without vocals and labelled "Jaded Little Pill - Accelerator", after legal attention. The remix (with vocals) still made it to a white label release (cat # WM 517 if you're interested) and I'm hoping the REM mix does the same.

I have no idea about the back-story for "The Great Beyond" remix.But in personal conversations I had with Mike Truman of Hybrid, the "So Pure" remix was mentioned & referred to several times. When I asked what the deal was, Chris & Mike both gave me little snippets of the story.According to Mike, they (Hybrid) were asked (commissioned) to remix "So Pure" (and "Your House", although not at the same time) by Morissette's label- Maverick- which they supposedly did at least partially based on her own suggestion.But Alanis had some 'change of heart' because she, herself managed to 'veto' at the last minute the release of their "So Pure" remix on the single (or ever...)- reportedly because she didn't "like" it, presumably since she apparently doesn't care much for contemporary electronic "night club" dance music...Since it was not (officially) released, the time/effort they spent producing the track would've essentially been lost (although I believe they did mention getting a meager commission from the label, but their contract was set up for them to make money based on sales). So, in order to salvage something from that project, they included "Accelerator" on a couple different albums/compilations- which itself is just an edited version of "So Pure" with MOST of the vocal removed- listing "Jaded Little Pill" as its producer (although the fine print fully credits . That was their sarcastic & intentionally rather insulting jab at Alanis for preventing their lovely remix from being released.I don't buy that bullsh*t reason from Alanis (and I got the distinct impression that neither did Mike or Chris). I attribute the whole thing to what boils down to 'ego issues'- basically a preemptive measure to save face & prevent the embarrassment of how crappy & pathetic her original version would sound next their splendid & sublime remix which totally usurps the true essence of the song- despite the potential sales & recognition its release would have generated. A truly "jaded" & pathetic move on her part- even if my theory weren't entirely accurate.