You've never heard of Artful Dodger, but you do know where it might find a home, even if you don't know that you know it. Look for houses with tarps over rattling windows and the glow of a blacklight or the blink of a strobe under the door (telltales signs that any dance-party stalker should identify two blocks away). By the spring, all of these houses will have at least tried a fling with Artful Dodger, or a similar group, if they're anywhere near as cutting-edge as they insist they are.
Artful Dodger works in the genre called by turns both "two step" and "UK garage," and is a highly danceable variation on the European electronica that has already migrated to the States. Europe is the international superpower of the dance world, and the United Kingdom has long been the capital and breeding ground for innovators and experimenters in electronic music.
Re-Rewind, released last month, collects new tracks as well as songs that may be familiar to patrons of Southampton dance clubs, but all of it sounds fresh to the American ear. Artful Dodger has remixed songs by artists as far apart as All Saints and Sisqo, and its performance overseas - with two number-two hits - speaks to the well-deserved buzz around Re-Rewind.
Despite the fast, reliable beats that watermark the album as a large dance piece, there are plenty of R&B-style vocals and melodies on Re-Rewind. As opposed to foundation-rocking bass groups that are great to dance to and unbearable to stop and listen to, Artful Dodger maintains a musical sensibility that keeps the floor solid and the listener engaged.
Many dance albums flow so seamlessly through their entire length that there's nothing actually memorable about them. Re-Rewind, however, demonstrates a rare feat: recognizable individual tracks. Each track is less like a new verse to a familiar tune and more like the spontaneous choice of a live concert. The action never stops, but it doesn't flat-line, either.
Of course, some of the album's melodic qualities have to be credited to the original artists, as only three tracks are pure Artful Dodger. There's also the occasional irritating sample that keeps snagging in the ear. One set of notes that recurs in at least two tracks has the same tinny, artificial quality as the "Tetris" theme music. Even if you're dancing, it's hard to keep from laughing when you hear something that can only be described as a beep.
Despite the occasional disconcerting moment, though, Re-Rewind is strong enough that the album by itself can get a dance party going, and varied enough to play in its entirety. It's up to you to keep things running after the disc runs out, however, because everyone will notice when this one starts to repeat. Impress your friends, impress strangers, impress the police, but have another album ready to go when these 69 minutes are up.
