If there is a name in reggae biz that stands for pure eclecticism like no other, it is Prince Fatty. The man shamelessly plunders the long, glorious history of the genre and tinkers bad homunculi from the stolen goods, which send cold shivers down the spine of every serious reggae purist. But all those reggae lovers who are able to maintain a small, delicately subversive and ironic distance from their favorite music, cannot help but enjoy Fatties' music with a big grin on their face. I belong to this category and I admit it: Prince Fatty is my hero! After his two Dub-Albums "Survival Of The Fattest" and "Supersize", his productions for Lilly Allen, Holly Cook and Little Roy, he has made me a loyal Soldier of Fatty's Army with his new work: "Return Of Gringo" is a crazy one Mixture of surf guitars, ska, spaghetti western soundtrack and (occasionally) Russian tunes. Let's try to evoke the idea of a jam session in our brain, which is already battered by an absurdly chaotic world, in which Dick Dale, the Skatalites, Ennio Morricone and Alessandro Alessandroni (the guitarist and singer whose whistles in countless spaghetti westerns shut down is heard) sit together in the studio by mutual agreement and each of them does his thing (are you still with me?) while Mike “Prince Fatty” Pelanconi and his partner Nick “Mutant Hifi” Colowe with a crazy grin on their lips the “Record "-Press button. Anyone who can imagine that is ripe to listen to the album without the risk of (additional) brain damage.
But joking aside. Let's be serious now. Honestly: The album is actually offered as the “Original Soundtrack” on iTunes. Obviously, the software thinks it is the (Morricone) soundtrack of the 1965 film "The Return Of Ringo" with Giuliano Gemma in the lead role. The Apple servers in Cupertino should listen carefully again: the venerable old Signor Morricone would never have condescended to such a joke! But Pelanconi & Colowe do. The latter (by the way Adrian Sherwood's right-hand man and co-producer of Asian Dub foundation Dub Syndicate, African Head Charge and Little Ax) plays guitar, glockenspiel, bass, keyboard and melodica, while the former mixes the whole thing through vigorously. Not to forget the brave horn section and the sweating drummer who tries to keep up with his bulky instrument. And of course Alessandro Alessandroni, who is actually part of the party as a guest musician. Somebody should make the film, whose brilliant soundtrack can be heard here!