Carl Cox has finally unleashed his long-teased rework of Renegade Soundwave's 1989 classic 'The Phantom' — the highlight of a landmark new project titled Renegade Soundwave Rewired, out via UK label Jack Said What. The project sees a who's who of beats and bass culture reinterpret RSW's genre-defying catalogue, with Cox's version dropping on 24 September.
Renegade Soundwave were one of the most influential and innovative acts to emerge from the UK’s late-1980s electronic underground, refusing genre boundaries and fusing sound-system culture with heavyweight bass, breakbeats, house, industrial textures, punk attitude and dub production to create a sound years ahead of its time. Landmark cuts including ‘The Phantom’, ‘Ozone Breakdown’, ‘Women Respond To Bass’, ‘Probably A Robbery’ and the seminal RSW In Dub album helped shape the DNA of UK electronic music.
Now, founding member Danny Briottet has partnered with the Jack Said What team to relaunch the RSW brand for a new generation. Crucially, Rewired is not a remix project in the traditional sense — every invited artist worked from newly recorded stems created specifically for the project, giving them freedom to deconstruct, reshape and rebuild each track into something entirely their own while preserving the spirit of the originals.
Carl Cox has long cited ‘The Phantom’ as one of his all-time favourite tracks. He’s played the original — first released in 1989 — in Ibiza numerous times over the years, and when he heard about Rewired, he was one of the first to jump on board. He’s been keeping his rewiring exclusively to himself, rinsing it at festivals and across his summer residency at [UNVRS] in Ibiza to huge reaction all season.
Cox’s rewiring of ‘The Phantom’ kicks off with a familiar breakbeat pattern a touch faster than the original, before the surging bassline and hauntological, dubbed-out dancehall toasting refrain enter the fray. The original sampled The Clash’s ‘White Riot’ — cleared by the band at the time — and in this update, Clash fan Barry Ashworth of Dub Pistols delivers the chant in his inimitable style. Making judicious use of each element, the track powers to climax in the second half. A classic made into a future classic. The vinyl cut drops mid-October.
In a moment of serendipity, the original ‘The Phantom’ was itself sampled by The Prodigy on early rave anthem ‘Everybody In The Place’ — and Cox has been playing vinyl sets alongside The Prodigy on their recent Warriors Dance tour.
The rewirings are dropping one every week, starting with a double whammy on Thursday 10 September. The first rework comes from Leeroy Thornhill, who spent the whole of the 1990s as a member of The Prodigy before pursuing a solo DJ career and becoming an expert breakbeat rave producer. Drawing on rave dynamics from the outset, his revamp of ‘Ozone Breakdown’ sets off down a breakbeat pathway, with judicious vocal use, scything rave stabs and a deep burrowing bassline powering it home.
Alongside it, jungle/drum & bass don Nookie — a veteran of Metalheadz, Reinforced and Good Looking — updates the 1990 breakbeat hardcore cut ‘Thunder’. With Binary State, he magnifies the burbling bassline and cinematic sci-fi synth strings while adding flittering electronic fireflies to the mix. The breakdown is a pure hands-in-the-air rave moment, and the diva-sung “Renegade Soundwave” vocal payoff gives a proper uplifting ending.
On 17 September, Rebel Dread Don Letts — chiefly responsible for introducing reggae culture to the punk generation — teams with Grammy-nominated producer Gaudi (Steel Pulse, Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry) for ‘Wax Wane’. The pair respect the original’s dub spirit while injecting fresh energy, conjuring a heavyweight rework that lands like a King Tubby original. The dub bassline is huge on this one, and it needs to be played LOUD.
These first four rewirings are only the tip of the iceberg. A veritable avalanche of interpretations are set to follow. Digital singles drop weekly from 10 September, with vinyl EPs following on 8 October via Jack Said What.
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