- Playgroup AKA Trevor Jackson began his career in music by designing record sleeves for names like Eric B & Rakim, Todd Terry, the Jungle Brothers to name but a few. As the Underdog he's produced a slab of remixes for the likes of Massive Attack, Unkle, Death In Vegas, House Of Pain and many others not to mention original compositions done with several UK hip hop acts. Trevor's also started up his own recording label, Output putting out releases from quality acts like Four Tet and Black Strobe. As Playgroup, Trevor's sound leans more towards electro, 80s disco and he's remixed a wide variety of artists including Soft Cell (whom Trevor is a big fan of), Yello, Chicks On Speed and he shares 16 of his favourite remix projects (including a couple of remixes of his own work) on Reproduction.
CD 1 sees Trevor take on the rock disco sounds of Radio 4's Dance To the Underground and gives it a funky melodic bassline and retro seeking 80's disco beats (similar in many ways to the Chicken Lips style of beats). Chicks On Speed's cover of Tom Tom Club's 80s classic Wordy Rappinghood (meaning that it is now a cover of a cover) gets a cool and mellow bass line, subtle drum programming with the Chicks left to do their thing on vocals.
More retro disco flavours to follow with Sinema's In Your Eyes with Playgroup chopping up the original vocals with echo effects and various filters and Trevor turns out a remix of his own Behind The Wheel before closing off the first disc with a remix of Soft Cell's Monoculture keeping things sounding new wave with clashy snares and pounding 4/4 house beats.
CD 2 sees more of the same electro housey madness as Trevor pulls off an arpeggio heavy remix of The Rapture's I need Your Love fusing retro electro sounds with bouncy pads, quirky synth hooks and goth like vocals. Chromeo's Gangsta drops the tempo down to downbeat house fused wth soul R&B flavours yet retaining the electro sound.
Bucci Bag by Andrea Doria featuring the familiar "I am ready to rock!" sample gets turned into a deeper and moodier mix featuring a long drum intro progressively adding bass, guitar riff and a funky bongo lick. It's a mashup of house and electro fused with rock elements. Finally the compilation closes curtains with Playgroup's remix of Yello's Soul On Ice which gets a sinister bassline, 80s disco beats and the gruff vocals Yello are famous for... "Ohhh, Yeah!"
With a remix discography most producers with be envious of, Trevor certainly would have a lot to show for in terms of being able to compile a coherent history of his own remixes. What's overly prevalent in Reproduction is that the even though the remixes (at least some) can stand apart from one another, the tunes themselves tend to get a little repetitive. Perhaps vinyl lovers would appreciate this format, however the CD itself could have been spiced up being offered in a mix format.