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Greatest hits: album reviews

Why Try Harder by Fatboy Slim

1-MIN READ1-MIN
Joyce Siu

Fatboy Slim's greatest hits collection, Why Try Harder, is a reminder of why he's one of the world's most popular DJs.

Fatboy, whose real name is Norman Cook, blends hip hop, breakbeat and rock. Like The Chemical Brothers, he is famous for bringing club music into the living room.

The album is a superb collection of 18 hits, including Right Here, Right Now, The Rockafeller Skank and Praise You. There are also two new tracks, Champion Sound and That Old Pair of Jeans, which features vocalist Lateef of Blackalicious.

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Fatboy often loops familiar vocal samples into his tracks and jazzes them up in his trademark funky style. Sunset (Bird of Prey), for example, is built around a vocal sample of Jim Morrison from The Doors.

The album also showcases his excellent remixing skills. He magically transforms Cornershop's Brimful of Asha and Groove Armada's I See You Baby into great dance tracks without losing their original mood.

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A DVD of Fatboy's wacky music videos is included in the compilation. Highlights are Weapon of Choice, featuring film actor Christopher Walken gliding like a ballerina, and Spike Jonze's offbeat Praise You, in which a group of middle-aged people shimmy hysterically.

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