617 Real 12" 617 are a crew from North London and this is the second single from their forthcoming LP ‘INTROspective’. First up is the title track featuring an intro of Anne Robinson and Pete Waterman on the Weakest Link, carefully cut and pasted to big up the crew. The actual track itself is based around a quite rigid beat intertwined with club-friendly organ and key riffs and would sit comfortably next to up tempo R&B - I can see it having some healthy crossover potential. Next up is a mix of ‘Real’ by NY resident Big Mike that has a nice, old school feel complete with 909 drums, electro style bassline and minimal chorus synth riff. This is followed by a version of the opening track with the sampled intro missing. Next we have a Robert De Niro sampled interlude… really just filler, followed by ‘Always’, a bass-heavy groove (with very clubby auto-tuned vocal – a la Cher) that is kicked off by another edited sample - this time Tony Blair. More cynical heads than I might suggest this type of sampling is a great way to get free publicity (in fact the group’s website features a press snippet from the Guardian), but all’s fair in the cut and thrust of the industry, I guess. Finishing things up is a harder mix of ‘Always’ without the Big Tony sample. The accompanying press release states that the forthcoming LP will also have introductions by other celebs, including David Beckham and Trevor McDonald, which may stretch the joke a little thin. You might have noticed that I haven’t commented on the emcees yet and that’s because I found Blue-G and D.R.A’s vocals a bit of a let down. It’s not that they’re bad, just uninspired and a touch pedestrian in places. In fact the vocals have an early 90’s kinda feel to them and really don’t do a lot for me, but Accura’s production is solid enough in a hip-hop/R&B club-friendly way that may just have one eye on the charts. - The Twizt  Related Links: 617 Website © ukhh.com 1999 - 2003