A Different Style
BiggaBush

For much of the 2021 lockdown(s), veteran dub midi-maestro Glyn “Bigga” Bush was locked in the studio revisiting an album originally released in 2004 on German imprint Stereo Deluxe, ‘Biggabush Free’. The outcome from this marathon session was a newly revised album titled ‘Biggabush Freevisited’, a record has been praised by the likes of The Wire Magazine, Kid Hops (KEXP), 239EF (NTS), Jamie Rodigan (whynowworld) and many more.

“A Different Style EP” is the remix EP follow up to ‘Biggabush Freevisited’. Highlighting a variety of bass-heavy styles, the release features reworkings from Sentinel 793, Robot Riddims, James Hayford and Gerry Hectic, ranging from 8-bit electronic dub to deep house disco and bruk.

“The thing I love about a good remix is that it references the original track but adds the remixers stamp and style in a respectful way that enhances the song and takes it off in new directions that I would never have thought of” Biggabush

Opening the EP with the first of two reworkings of “The River feat. Jackie Walters”, Sentinel 793 adds his trademark off kilter beats with beautiful chord progressions to the ethereal vocals of Jackie Walters. In contrast, the Gerry Hectic Extension of the track is an edit of the album version, weaving the instrumental to create a 14 minute epic take. Elsewhere on the release, Robot Riddims meld electronic drama with quirky console sounds on “Black Swan Revival feat. Farda P & Jackie Walters”, keeping Farda P as the central MC, and James Hayford builds on the ambient style of “Sole Sister” adding beats and breaks. Biggabush also takes the opportunity to put his own different slant on Real & Regal feat. Farda P”: “With the Bigga’s Rising Dub version, I went back to the track and made the whole thing spacier and darker. I’m a massive fan of Rhythm & Sound’s minimal dub/techno and wanted to bring this deep form of repetition and slowly unfolding sounds into the mix”.

Featuring vocalist Jackie Walters, MC Farda P, turntablist Jay Rees and The Blackjack Horns, ‘Biggabush Freevisited’ is a more cohesive version of its precursor, which began with a desire to break out of Glyn’s usual routines, habits and ways of writing music: the title is a play on the idea of alcohol-free, or sugar-free: “I took my old self out of the process and came back with something new” Glyn elaborates. As with any Biggabush project, the album covers an array of genres, from dub, instrumental hip-hop, ambient dub, electro, deep house, prog flavours and everything in between.