Scottish techno veteran Twitch long ago pioneered the resuscitation and regeneration of unlikely forgotten gems in DJ sets, helping jettison the space-disco craze on his Optimo set for Eskimo a few years back. Betty Botox is his re-edit project. This was what the original disco producers did before they started creating their own tracks out of other people’s masters; a lot of cutting and splicing to highlight the best elements and pump up the groove when necessary. The Frank Spencer tribute cloaks a sublime collection of rare corkers ripped from the lining of God’s underpants. These include Love Of Life Orchestra’s ultra-rare ‘Beginning of the Heartbreak’ which has its two sides cut and welded back together again to form a spangled anthem; those wacky Residents getting their ‘Diskomo’ made even madder with more than a touch of Suicide in the under-carriage; the classic rave of Australian 80s band Severed Heads; Adrian Sherwood creating a Prince-lashed mutant with Italy’s Pankow on ‘Boys And Girls’ and other delights which straddle disco-not-disco, cosmic shuffle or simple off-kilter weirdness, climaxing with a mindblowing rejig of Hawkwind’s ‘Valium Ten’ which shows how the Masters of the universe could actually be the true pioneers of techno! The percussive extravaganza of Zed’s ‘Fremen” [reportedly Carl Craig’s favourite track winds up proceedings as a guest rework from Naum Gabo, aka Optimo’s Jonnie Wilkes. A brilliant set which raises a new bar for the trouser-dropping anything-goes cosmic hoedown.
5 Out Of 5
Reviewed By: Kris Needs
