Fatboy Slim Albums (9)
What The Critics Say
The mix album Dance Bitch was released in honor of Fatboy Slim's 2009 tour of Australia, landing just as Norman Cook was supposedly retiring the moniker in favor of his new project, the Brighton Port Authority. Being exclusive to the land down under shouldn't be taken as a fault since this one is right up there with all his global releases, falling somewhere between his Bondi Beach: New Years Eve '06 mix and the great On the Floor at the Boutique from 1998. Funky breaks from Chromeo and a remixed Santogold bring the big beat sound into 2009, slightly older tracks from X-Press 2 and Aquasky provide some familiarity, and the Chemical Brothers' "Hey Boy, Hey Girl" is the past and future wrapped into one thanks to the Soulwax remix. The speaker-ripping bassline from "First Stroke" by John Acquaviva is a techno-based highlight, while Hervé's "Cheap Thrills" blends old-school jungle beats with a sample of Michael Jackson's "Thriller," making it a brilliant track with a brilliant title. The BPA's own "He's Frank" gives you the delicious experience of Iggy Pop singing an old Monochrome Set tune, and even if Cook's selections are now closer to the average Ministry of Sound compilation than the cutting edge, the mixing and pacing of the set deserves high praise. ~ David Jeffries, All Music Guide
'Bondi Beach: New Years Eve '06'
Release Date 12/6/2005
Tracks 19
Label Addictive
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What The Critics Say
Looking back on Fatboy Slim's discography, Palookaville is up against some stiff competition, which makes it the low point only because it isn't another beginning-to-end stunner. The Fatboy himself -- Norman Cook -- had given plenty of hints in the press before the album's release that this was going to be different. He went through marriage problems and declared a renewed interest in hip-hop over dance music, dance being a genre he sees as going through another dry period. Still, this isn't a "forget everything you know about..." album since the jittery "Slash Dot Dash" and "Jin Go Lo Ba" sound like old outtakes. They're the lesser tracks on an album that could have been tighter had Cook not played it safe by including them. There's so much more heart in the non-club numbers, with each one sounding inspired and full of that quirky Fatboy flair. A cover of Steve Miller's "The Joker" with Bootsy Collins on vocals is brilliant fun and the most direct example of the rolling along despite the nasty weather, naked hippy feel of the album. When Cook brings it down, he brings to mind the best of Tranquility Bass, just a lot more fun and approachable. For its hook, "Don't Let the Man Get You Down" uses the "long-haired freaky people" line from Five Man Electrical Band's "Signs" and guest singer Lateef's two appearances are nothing short of frolicsome. They offer the trippy ying to the marriage problem yang of "Put It Back Together" with Damon Albarn, and the intentionally maudlin "North West Three" (the first address where the recently patched-it-up Cook and Zoe Ball lived together). That "North West Three" samples from a husband-and-wife's record (John and Beverley Martyn's "Primrose Hill") is just one of Palookaville's deeper-than-before ideas. There are scars here, but with only hints of the specifics, you can apply Cook's heartbreak to any hurt of your own. Palookaville could stand one more trimming pass, but it gives Cook's canon the needed depth. Now there's a Fatboy Slim record for that rainy day and one the long-haired freaky people can enjoy. ~ David Jeffries, All Music Guide
'Live on Brighton Beach'
Release Date 2/20/2002
Tracks 15
Label Red Ink
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What The Critics Say
Not just the second live mix album from Brighton's favorite son, but his second actually recorded in the city that's taken him under its wing, Live on Brighton Beach concentrates less on the funk nuggets that made his inland mix, On the Floor at the Boutique. Despite his recent pop crossovers on the production front (or perhaps, as a result of them), Norman Cook is still one of the best party DJs in the world, unafraid to spin the big hits (Underworld's "Born Slippy Nuxx," Basement Jaxx's "Where's Your Head At," his own "Right Here Right Now") for big reactions. Still, Cook also drops some amazing obscurities, like the disco burner "Southern Thing" by Scanty and "The Talk" by underrated Chicago house producer Harrison Crump. Regardless of whether it's a familiar track or a newer dubplate, Live on Brighton Beach gets everyone down in fine fashion, and makes for a much better listen than most of Fatboy Slim's production works. ~ John Bush, All Music Guide
'Big Beach Boutique II'
Release Date 1/16/2002
Tracks 17
Label Southern Fried
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'Halfway Between the Gutter and the Stars'
Release Date 11/6/2000
Tracks 11
Label Ski
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What The Critics Say
The cover of Norman Cook's breakout Fatboy Slim album, You've Come a Long Way, Baby, was a good clue to the contents, picturing as it did thousands of LPs straining the racks in Cook's record room -- undoubtedly just a small portion of his massive collection of sampling material. Inside, Cook unfolded a party record for the ages, long on fun (though understandably short on staying power), chock full of samples pillaged from all manner of obscure soul shouters and old-school rap crews, triggered and tweaked ad nauseam. With his third LP, Halfway Between the Gutter and the Stars, Cook pulls away slightly from the notoriously fickle pop charts and crossover kids courted on his last record. Instead, he makes a conscious attempt to inject some real hedonism back into the world of dance -- he is a DJ, after all -- and sure enough, the cover matches those aims: it's a long shot on a beach (Ibiza or some other far-flung shore), with the sun shining out of someone's behind. The intro even pokes gentle fun at the loved-up R&B tradition with an extended sample from some bygone soul artist waxing overly poetic about his girlfriend. From there, Cook tears into an acid-techno rampage named "Star 69," a track that takes few prisoners and sounds closer to Plastikman than Propellerheads, though it does include the Fatboy Slim trademark -- a rather blue vocal sample repeated continually for nigh on a minute (funnily enough, the track was entirely removed from the clean version of the album). Despite the torrid pace set early on, there's still quite a bit of the used-bin scavenger left in Cook; the most patented big-beat anthems here, "Ya Mama" and "Mad Flava," include all the expected displays of crowd-moving hip-hop calls, unhinged beatbox funk, continual drum breakdowns, and plenty of rawk riffs. The first single "Sunset (Bird of Prey)" is another potential crossover move, featuring what is easily the album's most recognizable sample source -- Jim Morrison from the Doors. Borrowing from Morrison's posthumous LP of poetry An American Prayer, the "collaboration" works better than could be expected, with Morrison's pseudo-mystical, surreal vocal -- "Bird of prey, flying high/In the summer sky, gently passing by" -- floating over some comparatively atmospheric breakbeat funk by the Fatboy. Sniffy electronica purism aside though, Cook remains, if not the best overall producer in the dance world, certainly in its top rank, with an excellent ear for infectious hooks, tight beats, and irresistible grooves. On advice from friends the Chemical Brothers, Cook recruited collaborators for the first time -- nu-soul diva Macy Gray, funk legend Bootsy Collins, fellow superstar DJ/producer Roger Sanchez -- and the two tracks with Gray, "Love Life" and "Demons," are arguably the highlights of the entire album. In a similar fashion to David Holmes, Cook's ample production talents are served best with a vocalist lending focus, and "Love Life" is a seven-minute ride veering from dirty, warped funk to noise-heavy hip-hop breakdowns while Gray scats, growls, and purrs with clearly audible glee. After Bootsy's joint (the surprisingly bland "Weapon of Choice") and a hackneyed social-message track ("Drop the Hate"), Gray returns to save the album with another unbelievable performance on the half-resigned, half-hopeful gospel soul of "Demons." The closer, "Song for Shelter," is a masterful stroke of sun-splashed house recorded with help from Roger Sanchez and an ecstatic serenade to the dance music experience by Roland Clark (interpolated from his single "I Get Deep"). In all, Halfway Between the Gutter and the Stars is possibly Norman Cook's best possible statement after being -- nearly simultaneously -- picked up by a multitude of notoriously fickle pop consumers and thrown away by his previously rock-solid dance fan base. The hooks are unmissable and there's plenty of big-beat techno from a master of the form, but there's also a good amount of mature material that would undeniably appeal to many listeners in the dance world if they ever condescended to give it an objective listen. ~ John Bush, All Music Guide
'You've Come a Long Way, Baby'
Release Date 10/19/1998
Tracks 11
Label Skint
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What The Critics Say
Fatboy Slim's debut album, Better Living Through Chemistry, was one of the surprises of the big beat revolution of 1996 -- an eclectic blowout, all tracked to thunderous loops and masterminded by Norman Cook, a former member of the British pop band the Housemartins. It might not have been as startlingly fresh as the Chemical Brothers, but the hard-hitting beats and catchiness, not to mention consistency, of Better Living was a shock, and it raised expectations for Fatboy Slim's second album, You've Come a Long Way, Baby. And that record itself was something of a surprise, since it not only exceeded the expectations set by the debut, but came damn close to being the definitive big beat album, rivaling the Chemicals' second record, Dig Your Own Hole. The difference is, Cook is a record geek with extensive knowledge and eclectic tastes. His juxtapositions -- the album swings from hip-hop to reggae to jangle pop, and then all combines into one sound -- are wildly original, even if the music itself doesn't break through the confines of big beat. Then again, when a record is this forceful and catchy, it doesn't need to break new stylistic ground -- the pleasure is in hearing a master work. And there's no question that Cook is a master of sorts -- You've Come a Long Way, Baby is a seamless record, filled with great imagination, unexpected twists and turns, huge hooks, and great beats. It's the kind of record that gives big beat a good name. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
'On the Floor at the Boutique'
Release Date 7/15/1998
Tracks 19
Label Ski
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What The Critics Say
The hook here isn't so much the big-beat compilation itself as it is the DJ who mixed the program -- none other than the funk soul brother himself, Fatboy Slim. Better known to those over 30 as Norman Cook, bass player for the Housemartins and later the brains behind the charming reggae-funk outfit Beats International, he's now the king of big beat, a club music subgenre dedicated to fat, stoopid beats and pure dancefloor fun. On the Floor at the Boutique was recorded live as Fatboy mixed it at Brighton, England's Big Beat Boutique, and it's guaranteed to ruin the carpet at any party. There are contributions from artists as established as Fred Wesley (with his Horny Horns, not the Famous Flames) and the Jungle Brothers, and as obscure as DJ Tonka (whose "Phun-Ky" is an album highlight) and Bassbin Twins. It should come as no surprise that Fatboy Slim himself delivers some of the best moments on the program, including the deeply weird "Michael Jackson" and his irresistible Top 40 hit "Rockafeller Skank." Outstanding. ~ Rick Anderson, All Music Guide
'Better Living Through Chemistry'
Release Date 1/1/1996
Tracks 12
Label Skint
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What The Critics Say
Fatboy Slim is one of DJ Norman Cook's many aliases, and has proven to be his most popular and successful yet. Although he consistently racks up dance hits in his native England (each under a different surname), he didn't achieve global success until the re-release of Better Living Through Chemistry in 1997. On the insistence of his friends the Chemical Brothers, Cook released the track "Going out of My Head" as the album's first single. Due to its popular video and instantly catchy sample from the Who classic "I Can't Explain," Cook earned his first U.S. hit. Another unlikely sample used to great effect was featured in the track "Michael Jackson," which used a snippet of Negativland's "Negativland." "The Weekend Starts Here" is similar to the Beastie Boys' funk instrumentals, featuring distant organ and lazy harmonica blowing (which sounds an awful lot like the harmonica phrase at the beginning of Black Sabbath's "The Wizard"). Recommended to those who can't get enough of the popular technoid-sampled alternative dance style of the late '90s. ~ Greg Prato, All Music Guide
