That was after we were we had been entertained by fellow resident of Paris, Olaf Hund. As good as Mr. Hund was, it’s about time MOD X (aka Vincent) got on a similar stage over here. Not to worry, as he’s doing very well at home and — while we’re eager to get to hear the album — it’s a pleasant surprise to find that he’s got sidetracked with a collaborative 12” featuring a neat quartet of tunes with a big International flavour. This time we don’t need five plays for any of these tracks for them to “become infectious” (see ‘Interview with the man behind ‘The Quest’, MOD X).

First up is Stockholm’s SLS (stands for ‘Swedish Love Story’). You can hear their original version of ‘Quickslap’ on their myspace site (see links below). The four-piece band sounds very Scandanivian Prince to me and to be honest, this track wouldn’t have caught my ear. But MOD X’s ears are made of different source material to the rest of us and it’s hard not to boogie to his remix. Now a broken looped electrofunker, it’s a vast improvement and get that bassline!

The rest of the 12” is made up of three different versions of a track called ‘Latin Fiesta’ by Timewarp Inc. I can see why Vincent likes this one as it’s a dubby jazz funk Afro-groove. It has already been a big track for them in their native Greece.

6 Degrees Control (see their myspace site) has put in a trademark broken Afro-beatup hip hop electro-funk and it’s great to dance to. It’d give them Bugz In The Attic something to think about! Trust me, this version is Infectious.

Cayetano is known for “downtempo music mixed with lounge melodies” but he’s forgotten that and gone very uptempo House for his remix. Ideal in this post-Movement-Osunlade obsessed month. Cayetano has his own album out at the moment, Focused and it’s well worth taking a look at his site (see links below).

Top marks to Ice & Spice for getting some new future stars some exposure and it seems like an excellent idea for a series. Bring on “It Becomes Infectious No. 2” but note No. 1 is a limited edition release so get onto the Topplers web site and sort out your copy before they all go.

For more on MOD X and his previous singles see ‘Policitical Sun’ and ‘Picture Man’.

MOD X gigs:
Jun 29 2006 9:00P Chat noir - Paris
Jul 1 2006 10:00P MJC Special Party - Tours
Aug 5 2006 10:00P ATELIER 210 - Brussels
Nov 16 2006 9:00P L’ENTREPOT - Paris

Hectic Mix nomination - Latin Fiesta (6DC remix) but more than happy with any of the other three.

Reviewed: MOD X meets SLS, 6DC, Cayetano and Timewarp Inc. “It Becomes Infectious No. 1” (Ice & Spice Records) Cat. No. ISR 004) Release Date: Summer 2006
Tracklisting:
A1. SLS -Quickslap (MOD X Remix) (5:30)
A2. Timewarp inc. - Latin Fiesta (Original Version) (5:45)
B1. Timewarp inc. - Latin Fiesta (6DC Remix)( (6:05)
B2. Timewarp inc. - Latin Fiesta (Cayetano Remix)(4:52)

Links:
www.topplersmusic.com
www.iceandspicerecords.com
www.myspace.com/modxmix
www.myspace.com/6dc
www.myspace.com/cayetanomusic
www.myspace.com/swedishlovestory
www.slsmusic.com
www.lightsout.se
www.sala-sonora.gr
sala-sonora.gr/cayetano.html
www.timewarp.org
www.olafhund.com