With “The Warning,” “Blues For You” is the most notable record Wayne Gardiner as “LOGIC” put out during a spectacular run of singles for the original early ’90s incarnation of Strictly Rhythm. When we first started 5 Mag, Wayne reached out to us as we’d written about one of them that had Roger Sanchez’s name on it. Wayne wanted us to be absolutely clear who and what LOGIC was. He started releasing new material around then, all of it digital and none of it listed under any of his many aliases on Discogs, I’m afraid. It was part of that great chasm as the digital and vinyl scenes broke apart and viewed each other (in both cases rather condescendingly) as rivals at the time.

Like a lot of Strictly records of the ’90s “Blues For You” was snagged by enterprising UK Garage DJs and quickly became associated with a different kind of “Garage” than what existed in the States. At this point it’s on just about ever “UK Garage Classics” collection known to man.

The bangin’ dubs on the b-side serve as inspiration for this collection of two reworks forthcoming from Marc Cotterell‘s Plastik People vinyl imprint. The legendary Danny J. Lewis‘ remix crackles with electricity from the needle drop, with shuffling percussion, cut-up vocal drops and chords larger than life. Cotterell’s remix on the flip plunges into the more recent “Garage House” hybrid that has been a preoccupation of Plastik People for the last few years, with soul-with-strings and vocals allowed a bit more room to breathe. The first thing I thought of when listening to it was that it sounded a bit like Roger Sanchez’s ’90s Strictly records. And how weird is that?

Danny J Lewis + Marc Cotterell: Blues For You Reworks / Plastik People
A1. “Blues For You” (Danny J Lewis rework)
B1. “Blues For You” (Marc Cotterell rework)

Originally published in 5 Mag issue 174 featuring Robert Hood, Rasmus Faber, Remute, Natasha Kitty Kat, DJ 3000 and Motech & more. Help support 5 Mag by becoming a member for just $1 per issue.