Oh, Manchester, So Much To Answer For

Just as LaTour reminded us a decade-plus ago that people were still having sex, people are still making bootlegs & mashups. But here's the funny thing: it's starting to mainstream. Leading the charge is Richard X. He's the guy who, as Girls On Top, crafted the genius mashup of Adina Howard atop Tubeway Army, which later became a #1 UK single when, er, "covered" by the Sugababes (as "Freak Like Me"). Signed to a deal by Virgin UK, he then went overground with the Richard X vs. Liberty X record "Being Nobody," a soundclash between the Human League's "Being Boiled" and Chaka Khan's "Ain't Nobody." It was good, but not as good as it felt like it should've been. But now he's pulling out the stops. His full-length debut is on the way (via Astralwerks in the US), and the single dropping ahead of it is rather wow. It's titled "Finest Dreams," and again features a Human League track as its backing: in this case, Dare's "The Things Dreams Are Made Of" (thanks for the heads-up, Paul). But this one's topped by the S.O.S. Band's classic "The Finest," sung by Kelis. Kelis is gradually proving herself the inheritor of Grace Jones' legacy, able to fit herself in any record, any time (cf. P. Diddy/Deep Dish's "Let's Get Ill," Nas's "Popular Thug," and countless others) - complete with a simultaneously warm and slightly robotic voice. She's interplanet Janet, a galaxy dream - and never moreso than singing atop Richard X's replayed Human League muzik. This is another one of those booties which sounds so natural, so sensible that you're amazed you didn't think of it first. Fucking cracking machine soul. Is this what the future sounds like?