Seminal 90's electronic group from Manchester 808 State have made some questionable recordings in their career. I think this is one of them. I don't mean that it's bad, per se… just… well, questionable, as in I'm questioning whether I like it. If the title sounds familiar, it's because this is a remake of the UB40 classic by the same name. I know you're cringing, but hold on.

In some ways, this version works better: the breaks give it more manic propulsion, and the reworked bassline is more insistent. And while it keeps the occasional steel drum synth jab and the chorus vocals, it loses much of the ominous flavor of the original. UB40 were a Brit band bent on establishing reggae as a viable pop form for the rocker whitey. Their version of "One In Ten" is a rather laid-back reflection of early 80's pre-millenial disgust with poverty and brokenness, but with a little drunken stupor thrown in. With 808 State's remix, we hear a repetitive strain:

I am the one in ten,
A number on a list.
I am the one in ten
Even though I don`t exist.
Nobody knows me
Even though I`m always there.
A statistic, a reminder
Of a world that doesn`t care.

With the synths and samples, perhaps the repetition is a little more fitting. A chilly, breakneck-paced anthem with a voice that seems to have been brainwashed by all the environmental and sonic traffic into thinking that he is, in fact, the most important thing to himself but the least important to whoever lies outside his personal realm. Trudging up the sidewalk late at night, he's punctured by his isolation when a thin saxophone quote from an old song inside a bar manages to creep in past the earphones of his iPod.