Crazy Penis: A Nice Hot Edit With...
Paper Recordings
It's pretty hard to take seriously a recording credited to Crazy Penis but, in fact, the group's A Nice Hot Edit With … is seriously good. The band's A Nice Hot Bath With … appeared in 1999, so it's no great surprise to hear the 2010 re-work sound so deliciously old-school; in short, if you're a fan of Yore's deep, neo-classic sound and the idea of a vocal-less Chic likewise strikes your fancy, you'll likely cotton to A Nice Hot Edit With just as much. Crazy Penis (often referred to as Crazy P) was formed in 1995 by Chris Todd and Jim Baron and expanded in 2002 to include bassist Tim Davies, percussionist Mav, and vocalist Dannielle Moore, and its seminal 1999 release receives new life in the form of updates by Greg Wilson, Ray Mang, Yam Who?, Faze Action, PBR Streetgang, Flash Atkins, Rune Lindbaek, Brennan Green, and Crazy P itself.
UK DJ Greg Wilson (who brings no less than thirty-five years of dance music experience to the project) gives “Starwar” a thirteen-minute overhaul that breathes disco-funk through its every pore. Backbeat hi-hats, funk guitar riffing, and low-riding bass lines give the tune its soulful and powerful drive, and silken strings add a subtle whiff of class and elegance too. Crazy P's “We Found the Part” upgrade of “Do It Good” is as funky, especially when the buildups and crowd noises bolster its party jam, and jazzy too, courtesy of an electric piano that rolls overtop the cut's slinky groove. Ray Mang's “Dumpy Re-Rub” of “Smoovin' Groovin'” goes for the jugular in a steamy electro-funk makeover that simply won't be denied, and Flash Atkins' “I Am Love” rework mixes analog synth soloing, string flourishes, and bass-spiked groovesmithing into a dreamy and exuberant whole. Brennan Green opts for a more atmospheric deep house vibe in his smooth'n'stylish “3 Play It Cool” edit, while Norwegian disco house producer Rune Lindbaek even sneaks a clavinet into the dancefloor chug of “Mambo.” The album boogies to a close with Faze Action's “Drop Your Weapon,” a tight, Latin-ized treatment sprinkled with chunky electro synth fever and animated by a driving disco pulse. There's not a second-rate track in the sixty-four-minute set, and despite the subtle differences in personality and style the producers bring to the material an overall unanimity remains when all's said and done. File A Nice Hot Edit With … under slamming, soulful, and summery.February 2011