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DJ Shadow - GDMFSOB (UNKLE remix feat. Roots Manuva)

After The Private Press, there was a Shadow/Mo Wax release called Mashin' on the Motorway [buy it] that featured a whole slew of some of the best hip-hop remixes of 2003. There's a B52's/Shadow mash-up by Soulwax, the above track, a Kokio Ghetto Tech remix of Right Thing, and a killer party mix by Z-Trip mixing all of Shadow's best breaks. I think most people thought it was a single rather than a remix EP, but it's 2 x 12" ounce for ounce one of the best remix jobs caught on vinyl (and CD) last year. you even get Z-Trip bonus beats on side D.

This track takes the (always welcome) total overhaul approach to remixing, and adds in a deadly, deep electronic bassline with Roots' raw and ragged vocals pulling the track along. you can't help but nod along the entire time and go all crazy like b-boys at the DMC when they drop the bass out for those reversed bits.

I'll be posting a bunch of hip-hop remixes for the next few posts. 2003 gave us some incredible raw material on the indie/experimental/electronic side of hip-hop, and it's easy to see how it was a great year for remixes as well.