|
NUTSHELL: The Oasis of dance music, but far, far scarier - punk techno perhaps? REMIXES: Front 242, Jesus Jones, Art Of Noise, Method Man, Baby D, Bug Kann & The Plastic Jam, Magi & Emation TOP RARITY: "Minefields (Radio Edit)" (12", 10 copies only, XLT 76, 6/96)...£200+ RUNNERS UP: "What Evil Lurks" 12" (£80); "Minefields" promo cassette (£60); "One Love" 12" promos (XL EB 1 & XL EB 2) by Earthbound (each £40); "25th Chapter" 12" sampler (£25) Be afraid...be very afraid. Prodigy's dominance of British dance music is well documented - not least within these pages last summmer (RC 204, to be precice). Having demolished the charts in March '96 with the awesome collision of dub-friendly techno and heavy metal that was "Firestarter", the Essex boys scrapped a follow-up single, "Minefields", in June. Eventually, they opted for frightening Sex Pistols-meets-Charles-Manson-at-a-rave vibe of "Breathe". A handfull of "Minefields" 12" test pressings were pressed, though none have surfaced for sale on the open market as yet. Advance cassettes are slightly more common but we're talking a small needle and a large haystack. However, the Monkey Mafia Mix of "Minefields" is more easily available on the XL Recordings sampler, the 2,000-only "Fresh Packed Cuts", issued last October, which was initially circulated as a promotional CD at the German Popkomm conference. The majority of Prodigy singles are still on catalogue (or easy to find). One definite exception is "What Evil Lurks", the band's first single from February 1991. Fuelled by massive underground airplay, the 12" sold around 7,000 copies, a drop in the ocean compared to the No. 3 follow-up, "Charly". Also look out for two promo-only 12"s of "One Love", circulated in 1993 under the guise of Earthbound - the name of Prodigy lynchpin Liam Howlett's home studio - and described by biographer Martin Roach as "lysergic, anthemic minimalism". If dance music has now been accepted by an older and / or staider rock press - from 'The Guardian' to the 'NME' - then the Prodigy have led the way in redefining and broadering the genre. Their second LP, "Music For The Jilted Generation", crystalised and pioneered a whole culture in as dramatic a way as "Sgt. Pepper", "Never Mind The Bollocks", "Bitches Brew" or "The Stone Roses". |