“Pieces”/”Eastern Jam”
by Chase & Status
(Ram)
On October 5, the BBC Radio 1 Independent Top 10 had new entries in
eight slots. The UK charts are notorious for their turnover, but this
seemed especially noteworthy, and I’m marking the occasion by looking
at a few, starting with this drum ‘n’ bass 12-inch, which entered at
number three. On “Pieces,” guest vocalist Plan B (UK, not Seattle)
flips between son-of-Staind acoustic dejection and
crazy-personal-trainer hollers of, “I remember when I used to feel
something!” I remember, too: It was back before drum ‘n’ bass became
part of the mook arsenal. What is this, 311? On the B-side, “Eastern
Jam” is one of those “tablas… break beats… HEY!” tracks that jungle
fans were gaga about around 1996 that tries very hard to be modest
about how blatantly it exoticizes its sources.
“Naked on the Dance
Floor”
by Towers of London
(Vibrant)
Funny to encounter loud-and-proud glam-metal redux on the
stereotypically effete indie chart, where this song landed at number
five. In that context it’s pretty wild, though in isolation, it seems a
little more rote. Great title hook, but that’s pretty much it, whining
riff or no. Someone should get Electric Six to write their own song
with the same title—I’m sure they’d do a lot more with
it.
“Dance Wiv Me”
by Dizzee Rascal ft. Calvin Harris and Chrome
(Dirtee Stank)
“Do Me Wrong”
by Roll Deep ft. Janee
(Roll Deep)
Dizzee’s didn’t debut this week (it’s at number eight on the indie
chart); “Dance Wiv Me” went number-one pop over the summer and has been
hanging around the charts ever since. It’s easy to hear why: Early
grime MC Dizzee Rascal has real presence even when he drastically slows
his rhymes down to make sure they hear him in the cheap seats. But if
you’ve ever been a Dizzee fan, it’s not a heartening development
artistically. You’ll also probably prefer, as I do, Agent X’s
boisterous “Bassline Mix” to the original. “Do Me Wrong,” in at number
nine, is basically the “Dance Wiv Me” rip-off you might expect, and it,
too, has some pluck—but not enough to save it from death by
comparison. 