Crookers have blown up in a big way over the last year. All sorts of DJ’s are encorporating their tunes into tracklists. Crookers are an Italian duo – Phra and Bot – who fashion themselves as pirates, weilding beistie basslines. Their music is of the wobbly-playful-bass-type we’re hearing from the Dubsided lot. They claim to be heavily influnced by Hip Hop, hence the crunky bass, and hold certain similarities to baltimore and bail funk music. There’s a bit of choppy glitch-house cut into the warbling bass too.
Their latest upcoming release is Knobbers on Southern Fried Records (home of Touche, CagedBaby, Dusty Kid and Armand Van Helden), consisting of the tracks ‘Knobbers’, ‘Big Money Comin’ and ‘My Penny’. The title track, Knobbers, is the stand out tune while Big Money has some glitchy vocals melded to their characteristic upbeat bass. All Three are guaranteed to get u bouncing:
They’re like the gnarled, more crunk-infused offspring of Switch and Diplo. I first caught on to these two after Erol Alkan dropped their remix of Dusty Kid’s ‘The Cat’, and have been impressed with their rapid turnover of tunes ever since. Perhaps slightly samey, but all the more fun for it. Furthermore, in their remixes they bring their bouncy basslines to indie-electro tracks: a refreshing divergence from the uniformity of many recent remixing. Here are some of my favourite Crookers’ tunes and remixes, inlcluding a brand-spanking new remixes of The Whip, Cazals and Azzido Da Bass :
Bumblebeez – Dr Love (Crookers Remix)
Brodinski – Bad Runner (Crookers Remix)
Steed Lord – Dirty Mutha (Crookers Remix) [pelski highly recommends]
Bonde De Role – Gasolina (Crookers Remix)
Basement Jaxx – Set Your Body Free (Crookers Remix)
Adam Sky vs. Mark Stewart – We Are All Prostitutes (Crookers Remix) [pelski highly recommends]
Azzido Da Bass – Dooms Night (Crookers Remix)
