Artful Dodger: Re-Rewind : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

Artful Dodger, a Brit duo comprised of mixmaster generals Mark Hill and Pete Devereaux, are the human face of U.K. garage -- the accessible London club groove that combines contemporary R&B with house music's thump and grind. Hill and Devereaux's first U.S. release, the mix disc Re-Rewind, displays their recipe for success from the first track, "Woman Trouble." A collaboration with singers Robbie Craig and Craig David, "Trouble" artfully mixes funky Stevie Wonder-style keyboards and gloriously silky R&B vocals while finding a common ground between house's piano-driven textures and the popcorn-poppin' swing of drum-and-bass. Artful Dodger aren't afraid to really go for pop-feel appeal, either, as their inclusion of All Saints' "I Know Where It's At" or Sunship vs. V.P.D.'s pump-up-the-volume paraphrase of Sister Sledge's disco classic "We Are Family" makes clear. The club ambrosia of Re-Rewind will make you agree with one of its tracks' titles: "It Ain't Enough." (RS 856/857)

MATT DIEHL