OnePhatTrack (In And Out Of My Life - OnePhatDeeva)

Member Name: samredmore

Product:	In And Out Of My Life - OnePhatDeeva
Date:	17/07/01 (553 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good tune, Catchy vocal, Never gets boring

Disadvantages: Too short, Poor remixes

In the year of 1998, Fatboy Slim was taking the world of dance music by storm. His remixes of "Brimful Of Asha" by Cornershop and Wildchild's "Renegade Master", along with his own "The Rockafeller Skank" all proving to be hugely successful in the UK singles chart. This success continued into 1999, with "Gangster Tripping", "Right Here, Right Now" and "Praise You" all proving to be big hits for the man who has also been known as names such as Norman Cook presents Wildski, Pizzaman and Fried Funk Foods. However, six months after the release of "Right Here, Right Now", a track featuring a sample of the same tune came out and went on to become as big a hit as Fatboy Slim's original. It was called "In & Out Of My Life", and was by ATFC presents OnePhatDeeva.

"In & Out Of My Life" was released on 18th October 1999, and, although it went on to chart success, I still feel it is a tremendously under-rated track. It was released on the relatively new record label 'Defected', and was only the label's 8th release.

The main 12" vinyl copy has three different mixes on it; the original vocal, the Olav Basoski and the Knee Deep mixes. There is also a second 12" vinyl copy available. This version features remixes from the likes of Lab Rats, amongst others. Both versions can be bought separately, or as a double pack.

On the A-side of the main 12" vinyl copy is the 'Original Vocal Mix'. This is an extended version of what was played on the radio and, in my opinion, is the best mix of the track. It is this mix that features an instrumental sample of the tune from "Right Here, Right Now". This mix is mainly the "Right Here, Right Now" tune, a solid bass line and strong vocals. The vocals are a sample of Adeva's "In & Out Of My Life" and run through most of the track.

"You keep comin
g in and out my life
I just can't understand why
You keep coming in & out of my life"

The first time I heard this track, the thing I noticed the most was crash of three cymbals during this chorus. I don't know why, but they were what stuck in my head immediately after I had finished listening.
This mix is very catchy, and after hearing it a few times, is the kind of track that will get stuck in your head for the rest of the day.
Funky house tracks are not usually very long, however, this track seems short, even for this kind of track, despite having two breakdowns. The fact that it is quite a short track means that it is not one that you get bored of, as it is never on for long enough for it to become tiresome. I think this is good because with some longer tracks, I have grown a little bored of, for example, David Morales' "Needin U II". However, short tracks are generally harder to mix because you have less time in which to get the tempo of the next track before you have to mix it.
The track starts off with just beats, but the "Right Here, Right Now" tune quickly comes in (after 32 beats). The tune loops 8 times, after which we are treated to a breakdown. Having just beats to start with makes the track easier to mix in, but the breakdown coming in so soon also means the mix has to be kept short.
About half way through the track is the second breakdown, which is quite a long one. The tune gradually breaks down as the vocals become more intense and end up screaming "No no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no more..." The beats and tune then come back in as the track builds up again and the singing changes to "won't you move on out of my life". There is a mini-breakdown when the main chorus comes back in before the track then gradually starts to break down again. With the tune progressively fading out as the track draws to a close, the ending is quite goo
d for mixing something into as one track will be breaking down whilst the other is building up.

On the B-side are two mixes, the 'Olav Basoski Mix' and the 'Knee Deep Mix'.
The Olav Basoski mix has a Latin feel to it, with a piano playing throughout. The most noticeable difference from this mix and the original is that this mix does not have the Fatboy Slim tune, and has a much less 'moody' feel to it. This mix does not seem as instantly catchy as the original, and I find it to be a bit boring.
The same vocal sample is featured in this mix, but without the "Right Here, Right Now" sample, it just doesn't seem right, and the track seems to be lacking something.
This track is also quite short, therefore having the same good and bad points as the original, where its duration is concerned. Again, the start is just beats but this mix gradually builds up better than the original, making it better to mix in, in my view.
The track breaks down towards the end, but there are no beats right at the end, which makes it quite difficult to mix something into it, as you have to mix it earlier than if there were beats.
Overall, this mix is quite poor when compared to the original.

The second mix on side B is the Knee Deep mix and, again, doesn't have the "Right Here, Right Now" tune. Because of this, the vocal doesn't sound anywhere near as effective as on the original mix.
Interestingly, on this mix, the vocal is one beat later than on the other mixes, which does make it sound quite strange but, as I am used to hearing the original, it doesn't sound right, and therefore, to me, the whole track seems not quite right.
Not as much goes on during this mix, with much fewer instruments and sounds going on. What does feature more strongly though, is a guitar for most of the track, which mostly is accompanied by just a beat and the vocal.
Again, this mix i
s not very long, and is probably the shortest of the three. It starts off with just beats and gradually builds up, with the vocal being filtered in. This gives it a good effect when mixing it in. It has quite a long intro , which means you are able to mix it for longer, and not have to quickly move from one record to the other, as with the original mix.

In general, although the two remixes let it down, "In & Out Of My Life" is a brilliant example of a good quality funky house track to have come out in recent years and will always be one of my personal all time favourites.

An accapella of "In & Out Of My Life" is also available as part of the "Defected Accapellas : Volume 1" album.

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