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DM & Jemini - Twenty Six Inch EP


Review: Jack Foley

IN WHAT has proved to be a good year for the hip-hop movement, DM (Danger Mouse) and Jemini have done more than anyone to make the medium worth getting excited about again.

Their brilliant album, Ghetto Pop Life, is already being hailed as a hip-hop classic, and looks set to feature prominently among the album of the year lists, but barely has the heat surrounding that long-player started to burn out, than they release a timely EP, to serve notice of their talent ahead of the Christmas rush.

The Twenty Six Inch EP boasts a new track, as well as five remixes of certain album favourites, and resonates with that old-school quality which makes time in their company so hopelessly hip and funky.

Opening track, What U Sittin' On?, gets things going in electro-fashion, complete with an ultra-fuzzy bassline and a vocal set that Outkast would be proud of, before things slip into more familiar feelgood territory, with the Ghetto Pop Life remix, featuring Sadat X.

It is here that the Ennio Morricone vibe returns in full force, with the bigger beats still wrapped around the operatic, even cinematic, background that makes the album so stand out from the rest of the hip-hop pack.

New track, The Shit, is a typically self-congratulatory rap, complete with David Holmes-style bassline and some funky Motown-based trumpets, which proclaims that 'I'm the shit', and 'a bad motherfucker'. It's hard to disagree, given the standards DM and Jemini have set - they continue to be 'the shit'!

The best moment on the EP, however, comes in the form of the second Ghetto Pop Life remix, which slows things down considerably, and even goes mellow.

The PR describes it as a Summer-inspired DM retake, complete with bright new lyrics from Jemini, and it is an ultra-slinky number, with a really feelgood, lazy vibe that wouldn't sound out of place on a Nightmares on Wax or Zero 7 remix, while also keeping its soundtrack feel with a nod to the likes of Lalo Schiffrin.

Proceedings are rounded off with Live on Both Sides, another melody-strewn rap, which brings things to a masterful close, complete with yet another blast at the Bush administration, which is one of the features of the long-player.

If you haven't had the chance to sample the delights of DM and Jemini's album yet, then let this EP ease you into the delights it has to offer.

These two belong in the Golden Era of the hip-hop movement, as they certainly possess the Midas touch in terms of their music.

 

Track listing:
1. What U Sittin' On 26" Remix, starring Cee Lo & Tha Alkaholiks
2. Ghetto Pop Life remix, starring Sadat X
3. The Shit

3. Ghetto Pop Life II
4. Omega Supreme DM remix
5. Live on Both Sides

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