Mantronix - That's My Beat
MusicMash Rating: not rated yet
Pitchfork Media Rating: 8.2
The 80s have been back in force for some time. Film, television and publishing have been dabbling in
nostalgia for the Reagan years (and of course, there's Grand Theft Auto: Vice City), but as is
often the case, the music of the era is receiving the most exhaustive re-examination. A slew of books in
the last year or so (Our Band Could Be Your Life, Fargo Rock City, From Joy Division to
New Order: The True Story of Anthony H. Wilson and Factory Records, to name just a few) have approached
the 80s from a number of different angles, and the recent spike in interest in post-punk, metal, synth-pop
and electro all speak to the period's resurgence. The musical decade that was widely considered hopelessly
uncool six or seven years ago today provides both musicians and listeners with a deep well of inspiration.
Now comes London's venerable Soul Jazz label with this timely compilation, selected by pioneering producer
Kurtis Mantronik, to show what the early 80s were like from the perspective of New York's club scene. I
finally read the fantastic book Last Night a DJ Saved My Life a couple months ago, and it provided
me a nice background with which to approach this compilation. According to the liner notes for That's My
Beat, Kurtis Mantronik was a regular at David Mancuso's Loft, hung with Larry Levan at the Paradise
Garage, and could be seen at Bronx parties with the likes of Afrika Bambaataa and Grandmaster Flash. If
this is true, Mantronik was at ground zero for three different music genres (disco, house and hip-hop), so
he would seem uniquely qualified to select early 80s club tracks.
And he delivers, for the most part, delivering the "old skool hip-hop, electro and disco" promised on the
record's cover. That's My Beat really is fun, funky and educational from start to finish. As is to
be expected, the older rap material is the iffiest stuff here. The singsong Sugarhill style is difficult to
listen to now, as rhyming has grown increasingly sophisticated with each passing year. Jimmy Spicer's
"Super Rhymes" is the worst offender in this regard, coming across as little more than another post-"Rapper's
Delight" bandwagon hop (it's got Chic's "Good Times" beat). Almost compensating is Funky 4 Plus 1's "That's
the Joint", the tune that provided sample inspiration for the Dust Brothers on Paul's Boutique (it has
both the "it's the joint" from "Shake Your Rump" and "ain't you very proud to be an MC" from "Shadrach") and
formed the template for the Jurassic 5, for good or ill. The nine-minute playing time is something of a
problem, as it was for so many singles early in the twelve-inch era, but the sunny mood and energy of the
track make it enjoyable even at that length.
The electro side of the equation is covered nicely by Yellow Magic Orchestra's undeniably great instrumental
"Computer Games", which mixes vintage Atari bleeps with a killer beat and Eastern melodies. Art of Noise's
"Beatbox" is a bit more dated (the lumbering, gated drum sound is from Phil Collins' production manual), but
the sample-heavy structure packs one great hook after another. And the sleek, streamlined electro-beat of
Visage's...
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