It's All About The Stragglers - Artful Dodger (Dance)

"It's All About The Stragglers" came out in 2000, at the height of popularity for UK Garage. This urban dance music emmerged in the mid-nineties, and faded around 2002 (before being brought back as Bassline in 2007). Artful Dodgers were amongst the most popular acts, and as a production group, out of Southampton, they collaborated with R&B singers to perform on top of their 2-Step beats. With the dance scene anywhere being ever-changing, ...
...old, but with this album constructed efficiently, they managed to stay relavent at this peak period with tunes such as "TwentyFourSeven", "Woman Trouble" and "Re-Rewind".

1. "Think About Me"

To start the album off, we have one which starts quite simplistically with a piano loop, which builds up the mood, before things such as vocals are introduced into things and then it breaks ... more

"It's All About The Stragglers" came out in 2000, at the height of popularity for UK Garage. This urban dance music emmerged in the mid-nineties, and faded around 2002 (before being brought back as Bassline in 2007). Artful Dodgers were amongst the most popular acts, and as a production group, out of Southampton, they collaborated with R&B singers to perform on top of their 2-Step beats. With the dance scene anywhere being ever-changing, constructing an album is difficult, as the music is quickly old, but with this album constructed efficiently, they managed to stay relavent at this peak period with tunes such as "TwentyFourSeven", "Woman Trouble" and "Re-Rewind".

1. "Think About Me"

To start the album off, we have one which starts quite simplistically with a piano loop, which builds up the mood, before things such as vocals are introduced into things and then it breaks down as they break out into some some smooth 2-Step percussion. Of all the tracks on the album, it isn't as good, but still not bad.

**Four Stars**

2. "Re-Rewind"

This is perhaps their most well-known track, and has them really taking the 2-Step sound to the masses as it presented Craig David on the vocals and them tearing it up whilst using the 2-Step production, and adapting unconventional sound effects to it. It is a smooth out which really represents what the Garage scene was about at the time.

**Five Stars**

3. "Outrageous"

This sample-heavy work is a bit of a change for them, but not uncommon for a Garage track. I felt as though they really foudn their strengths with this one as they manipulated the vocals to fit in with what was required of the thing. As a result, the lyrics make no sense, but work perfectly with the beats as it complements the work of the production duo.

**Five Stars**

4. "Please Don't Turn Me On"

Lifford takes on the role of the singer for this one, and with male vocals from another, rather than Craig David, it forces a change in album towards a smoother one. You get just this here as the producers do a rather gentle one which only breaks down in to proper 2-Step at the chorus. The way it works is rather predictable, and takes from Drum & bass, which came before it.

**Five Stars**

5. "TwentyFourSeven"

Taking from the popular sounds of the American R&B scene at the time, this one standds out as rather different to what else you find here. It was very popular to remix R&B tracks in this 2-Step form at the time, and here they reverse it with some typical Darkchild or Timbaland beats from this time period and vocals from Melanie Blatt. I liked the fact that they were pretty much there with it all, and if you didn't already know, you would say it was an American artist.

**Five Stars**

6. "Something"

This has the great comibnation of them workign with Craig David on the vocals, and just as on every other collaboration between the pair, it has them come up with something big to really capitalise upon the strengths of them all, and the teamwork between them. You can't help but like this with such great form and and great feel of things.

**Five Stars**

7. "Movin' Too Fast"

This is another well-known recording from them, and one which was very popular at the time as they get the Italian-American, Romina Johnson, taking the lead in it all and singing over the top of another funky piece of production from them. They only manipulate her vocals to a minor degree, and it gives her a chance to really show what she can do herself.

**Five Stars**

8. "R U Ready"

MC Alistair is the one who leads this one, and he really gets you wanting to move as he comes this loads of hype lines to just build up upon the banging beats from Pete Devereux and Mark Hill with his skatty approach to bringing energy to the listeners. This one shows how the UK had finally managed to find their own style of rapping, and had finally moven away from the US thing. However it didn't last long with the rise of Grime.

**Five TSras**

9. "I Can't Give It Up"

The beats in this one are amongst the best that you find on the album as they up the tempo and hit the beats a lot harder than elsewhere on the album, and it really adds to things to make it a much more energetic tune on the thing. With this, they use the talent of Nadia for the vocals, and she brings it all together effectively. It is well-constructed, and keeps the high standard in effect.

**Five Stars**

10. "Woman Trouble"

The heavy Hip Hop influence of things comes through in this one as Craig David, who takes on the role as the lead vocalist, comes with some of the fresh lines which were heard throughout the Garage world (in a similar way to how when Hip Hop first emmerged, several mandatory phrases were used in the tunes as they freestyled on the beat). This is a very well-done one with lots going for it as a story is told in the song, despite it being a straight dance tune.

**Five Stars**

11. "What You Gonna Do?"

Taking from the most popular single off the album,"Re-Rewind", this one samples segments of that in this piece and transforms it into yet another killer tune from them. It is so so well-constructed, and has them surprise you even more with how they are able to come up with new things, despite the general 2-Step structure being quite rigid.

**Five Stars**

12. "It Ain't Enough"

Edging towards the end of the album, this one has them comign with even more top-quality Garage as you have them performing a tune with them juxtaposing the best (but contrasting elemnts of the genre (aside from the beats) as you have Mz. May singing, but also MC Alistair gets a chance to do a little rap over it all just to increase the hype energy of it all. The lively nature of such lines just adds to the things, and despite the fact they don't say much, it is exactlyy how Hip hop developed too.

**Five Stars**

13. "We Should Get Together"

Ending the album off, we have a tune which has them putting things into high gear as eveything comes together when they choose to bring in the female R&B vocals to some more icey backing on a 2-Step beat. It shows that even at the en of things, they can still come with something fresh as the record comes to a close.

**Four Stars**

This is a very strong album from Artful Dodger, and it is a shame that the Old School days of Garage haven't been able to fully-develop again, as a result, only this album was released by them, and they weren't able to show how the genre could have developed without completely changing its approach from the 2-Step prevalence to more 4x4 work and Bassine.  

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