Mint Royale
MUSIC REVIEWS :: NEWS :: CRUD RADIO ::NEW RELEASES::PREVIEWS::HOME
  PROTEST.NET
 
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
MEDIA STREAM PREVIEW
play with Windows Media
Play Crud Radio - 1 hour of great music mixed exclusively for Crud
CRUD MUSIC MAG  ALERTS

MUSIC POLLS
Most Convincing Northerner
John Simm
Liam Gallagher
Peter Kay
Max Beesley
Vernon Kay

View Weekly Poll Results

   

Mint Royale : Cantonese takeaway
10/09/01

Mint Royale are Neil Claxton and Chris Baker, two U.K. producers whose brassy brand of funk has made its way into Fatboy Slim's record box and onto the big screen in the new John Cusack movie Serendipity, and it's headed to the U.S. with the release of On The Ropes. They have a new single out and Crud gives it a spin to let you know what these boys are all about.

Mint Royale

Mint Royale (featuring Pos) - Show Me

A joyous summer jaunt of a song, featuring Pos from hip hop heroes De La Soul, and, what sounds like a Cantonese ABBA tribute band in the chorus. Pos' rap recalls his own bands tune, the classic Prince spelt "Eye Know". However, the abundance of easy listening sunny types vibes worryingly reminds this reviewer of "Summertime" by those doyens of the hard core rap scene, DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince. That particular association is culled slightly, by the classy ambient break in the middle of the track, which is the sound of a sky full of birds flying south for that much needed mid year wing break.

Biog :

Until 1997 both men had been pursuing their own musical paths, growing up as they did in the middle of the U.K.'s indie rock and acid house explosions of the late '80s.

Already familiar faces on the U.K. dance scene, the boys hooked up at the Christmas party thrown by U.K. dance mag Jockey Slut in 1997, and christened themselves The Mint Gun Club, named after one of the haunts frequented by Hunter S. Thompson in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.

Critically accalimed reworkings of Kenickie's “I Would Fix You” in 1998 ensured their success in the UK.

“We were actually meant to do a drum n’ bass remix,” Chris explains, "but the original was just the wrong speed, so we ended up doing it our own way. That was really the birth of the Mint Royale sound proper," he says. "Because that was when we started doing stuff we liked and stopped thinking about who'd play it."

After playing the 2000 CMJ closing party, the Mints are setting their sights on the U.S. to support On The Ropes, both as a live act and as DJs.

“Dee-jaying's something we stopped when we started living in the studio,” Neil says. “Now we take out a box of tricks when we DJ.” “It's nice to DJ again,” Chris adds. “But with our new box of tricks it's like revisiting an old friend -- who's got a new girlfriend to look at.”

Review by Priya Elangasinghe

 
 
 
 

© CRUD MUSIC MAGAZINE/
2-4-7-MUSIC.COM 2006

STILL refusing to dumb it down.

CRUD MUSIC MAGAZINE HOME :: NEW RELEASES :: MUSIC REVIEWS :: MYCRUDSPACE :: MEDIA STREAMS :: MUSIC NEWS :: ADVERTISING :: FORUM :: POLLS :: CONTACT US :: NOKIA RINGTONES & LOGOS
 
 
 
Crud Magazine is set up and maintained in accordance with permissions and conditions agreed by all parties.