Mungo's Hi-Fi - Hire and Removal Refix (ft. Eek-A-Mouse) / Kung Fu Know How (ft. Solo Banton & Ruben Da Silva)

Mungo's Hi-Fi - Hire and Removal Refix (ft. Eek-A-Mouse) / Kung Fu Know How (ft. Solo Banton & Ruben Da Silva) (Scrub-a-dub / Scotch Bonnet Records)

This time I am record reviewing a reggae 12 inch record from Mungo's Hi-fi. Mungo's Hi-Fi are from Glasgow in Scotland but this record doesn't really sound like Scottish music because it is funky electronic reggae music and mostly when I think of reggae I think of Jamaica. I think it's okay to make reggae music even if you are from Scotland though because it doesn't really matter where you come from as long as the music you make is good and this is a very good record. I don't really know so much about reggae music but we sometimes listen to it at The Gate and talk about it in our friday music group because some of the people who come to the Gate are reggae fans - we listen to lots of types of music at The Gate. What I do know about reggae though is that a lot of people who listen to it have dreadlocks and smoke hash which is alright I suppose. I was in a cafe once and this man asked me if I wanted to buy some hash for twenty pounds but I didn't buy it because I didn't have enough money - I think I would have done though if I had of had the money because I've never smoked hash before and it would be an experience.
            The first song on the Mungo's record that I am listening to is called Hire and Removal Refix and is a new version of a song that was first released in 1982 by reggae star Eek-A-Mouse. Eek-A-Mouse has a funny way of singing where he sings very peculiar words that don't mean anything like bonga bom bom bom, it is a very funny way of singing but I like it. Here is the original Eek-a-Mouse version of the song from 1982 that we listened to here so that I could learn more about it, we also listened to some other Eek-A-Mouse songs like Ganga Smuggling and Wa Do Dem and I thought they were very good indeed:

          The Mungo's Hi-Fi version of the song starts off pretty much the same at the beginning with the same music and the same singing but then it changes and a noisy bass comes in that you can feel in your stomach and drums come in that are not like the ones in the original at all because they are electronic and very fast. The best part of the record I think is the bass because it very different from what I have heard before; it is very hard and I like it a lot. I thought this song was very good to listen to and I think it would be good to play at one of the parties we have here because It would make everybody dance. Here is the song from the Mungo's Hi-Fi Soundcloud Site for you to listen to:

SCRUB006 A Mungo's Hi Fi ft Eek-A-Mouse - Hire and removal refix by mungoshifi

              On the other side of the record there are two versions of the same song and this time it's a singer called Solo Banton who does the singing and not Eek-A-Mouse. Solo Banton is from Shepherds Bush, West London but doesn't live here anymore because he now lives in Reading - I might have seen him or passed him by in Shepherds Bush when he was there because that's where I've lived mostly all my life and that's where I am now; I like Shepherds Bush because there are good people around and people treat me well.

Peter with his friend
Leon who likes reggae

            The song Solo Banton has made with Mungo's Hi-Fi  is called Kung Fu Know How and in it he sings about being a kung fu master (I don't know much about kung fu but I think it's chinese or japanese martial arts and defending yourself, I've seen films about it advertised at the cinema, I thought they looked interesting but I never saw a full one).  This is a very good song to listen to because I never heard any songs about Kung Fu before except for Kung Fu Fighting but I think this is a better song than Kung Fu Fighting because it is more reggae and you can't beat reggae - I still like kung fu fighting but I think this is about 10% better and my friend Leon who also comes to the Gate and likes reggae likes it a lot too; Leon knows a lot about Jamaican type music because his uncle used to run a record stall in Brixton and Leon used to help him out. I think overall that this is another good party song just like the other one and I think a lot of people would dance to this one too. You can listen to it here:

SCRUB006 AA1 Mungo's Hi Fi ft Solo Banton & Ruben Da Silva - Kung fu know how by mungoshifi 

          The last song on the record is another version of Kung Fu Know How called the Drunken Dub version and it is different from the other version because it sounds a bit slower and doesn't have as much singing in it. There are lots of funny noises in it too which makes it sound a bit magical and i think this is a nice way to make music because it makes you feel good because it is very jovial music.
          Overall I enjoyed listening to this reggae record and I hope I get to hear more reggae so I might get Leon to play me some more when he comes in friday for music. I would give this record 10 out of 10.