[Bangbang!]

Having run one of London’s favorite parties for the better part of a decade, until recently it had been Giles Smith’s Secretsundaze co-resident James Priestley who was been getting all of the attention. Since teaming up with Martin Dawson (aka King Roc) as Two Armadillos, Smith has seen his share of the limelight as well. The pair have successfully assembled a tidy number of well received twelves that have curried favor with house DJs around the world. If there is one thing Two Armadillos have shown so far in their brief history, it’s that they know how to put a groove together and “Hawthorne’s Theme” is no exception to the rule. The duo waste little time in building a stunning, yet simple house groove from a deeply resonant organ crackling with cue burns and a tubby, shouldered bass. Slight, ruddy horns find spaces to fill at the end of bars, while razor wire strings creep in at the top end, reminding tinnitus sufferers of what’s to come at the end of their night. The percussion is impeccable; the hats swing against the steadfastness of the claps accenting them both, with expertly placed bursts of rimshots and cowbells making appearances too.

The remix by Babies From Gong (aka 2000 And One and Sandy Hüner) goes for more of a big room feel, speeding things up and adding more propulsive drums, and in doing so I feel it fails to make the most of the raw materials with which they had to work. Barely active since their first release on 100% Pure over fifteen years previous, they strike me as somewhat of an odd choice for a remix, and that would be irrelevant if their take on the track were of any real quality. To not make use of the incredible groove is one thing, but they manage to actually cheapen the entire sound quality of the track. What remains is a patchy, two dimensional piece of floor fodder, which is a huge shame because the original mix deserves much better.