Review: Super Fresh Bits - WBBL

I was quite surprised upon beginning this review to realise that I’ve yet to actually do a proper feature on WBBL. He’s been mentioned once or twice, including his contribution to Extra Medium’s Hot Jazz Rollers on ‘The Beat Goes On’, and of course my Deezguyz review – but that is pretty much the full extent. Indeed, as I mentioned in my review of X-Ray Ted’s On the Floor, there’s a group of seriously funky DJs based in Bristol who I often consider as belonging together, and WBBL would certainly be right up there with the best of them. Super Fresh Bits is not so much of an original album from WBBL, but more a collection of bootleg-type remixes and edits, and the extra incentive to get a quick listen in is that it’s only available for download this weekend. Thus, I made sure to get my own hands on all ten tracks as quickly as possible.

The first track is ‘The Good Shit’, with a very appropriate title, for a song whose immediate slap bass sets off making things as funky as it can get straight away. WBBL is of course known for his funk-based music, and he won’t be letting anyone down here – this is exactly what one would want from him. There’s great energy levels, ideas that work across several layers, and pure positivity throughout. Next up is a remix of Gwen McCrae’s 1981 track, ‘Funky Sensation’. The original has been sped up a bit, and WBBL’s added instrumentation supports the vocals flawlessly, giving the song a brand new flavour. I really like the smooth piano that’s been left in – the best part of the track – and the disco feeling we find is strong. Like with my latest Atom Smith review, it’s clear that this is music meant to make people dance. ‘Griztronics’ is then a remix of GRiZ and Subtronics’ original – this one slowed down slightly. But this is one of those occasions where it’s actually an improvement on the original. It takes a while to really appreciate, but once the main drop kicks in it’s an absolute beast – keeping all the energy of the original, but making it way more interesting.

It then feels like quite the shift to go from the chaos of that into ‘1000’, which brings back the funk with its clever cutting up of its Wilson Pickett sample – managing to make all sorts of new melodies out of it. This is another of those songs that’s been sampled a million times, and whilst no one will be claiming that this is the best example, it’s certainly an original contribution to the collection. ‘Ain’t No Other’ then provides the seemingly compulsory drum ’n’ bass track, with a remix of Christina Aguilera. This is clearly another dancefloor killer, with unbelievable energy – one can feel how much this will go off live, even on just a casual listen. ‘It Runs Through Me’ is then a remix of the fairly recent Tom Misch track, and is definitely funky, but in a different way almost – it’s the best example of what might be called neo-funk on the release. Nicely laid back and chilled, the production is top notch, and the result is an almost futuristic sound. And then ‘Funky Feeling’ is another of those songs that seems to perfectly personify WBBL’s sound – one could easily play this to someone as a distinguishing example of his style. There are also some really brilliant timbres found here throughout.

Coming up to the end of the release, ‘Bad Mama Jama’ remixes the Carl Carlton original, also from 1981, and is a really nice addition to the release. The electronics are held back a bit on this one – at least to start with – and whilst there’s a bit more activity once it properly sets off, they’re still comparatively subtle, with several great little features popping out throughout. ‘Island Bully’ then stands out as a bit of an anomaly on the release; with its loud, punky, cockney vocals, this song has a very different feel to the rest of the ten tracks. Even the electronic parts don’t sound like WBBL, and the piece doesn’t really stand so well here. Although, whilst this would be a problem on a proper album, this is of course a collection of random tracks, so it doesn’t really matter so much in that sense. And then ‘Bullet’ also comes off as an extra addition that wouldn’t really fit elsewhere. Sampling Rage Against the Machine, this is another entirely different approach to funk, and this track simply plays the original for over a minute before featuring any edits. At this point though, WBBL brings in an absolutely massive build up leading to a fantastic DnB drop, and it ends up being one of the best tracks on the release.

So there’s a really good quality collection of bootlegs from WBBL here. It’s of course very sample-heavy, and I’m looking forward to the more original stuff on his upcoming album next year, but this is a great release to keep his fans going in the meantime. Whilst some of these tracks can be a bit formulaic – one doesn’t really need to change this formula when it works so well; Super Fresh Bits certainly doesn’t showcase the finest songwriting or musicality prowess – but its great fun, and provides us with the opportunity for a fantastic time. As I mentioned, this release is only available for one weekend; if you miss it now, you’ll just have to wait until all these tracks are undoubtedly featured on the dancefloor.