"why the amen break again?"
Glad you noticed!
In fact, people should know I never sample drum loops - except when remixing, of course...
But since I got that amen thing lying around, I figured that EVERY electronic musician must use that rotten loop ONCE in their lifetime (preferrably no more than that). And so, since I've already made 5 albums worth of tracks without delving into the amen territory, I decided to get it over and done with. Now, you see, I won't have to go down that road ever again!
Squarepusher and others have effectively deconstructed the piece in the past, so it's really just a pastiche type presence these days.
Anyway, it's not meant to be convincing as much as an obvious wink. It's also a kind of stab at the predictable nature of the whole genre of breakbeat. Just listen to any number of "new" artists.
Crosswire itself has been created in that mold to accompany any number of overused and trite breaks, I'm sorry to say. The fact is that amen is still the "unmentionable" backbone of a lot of breakbeat. Amen is the unconscious of the industry.
Am I blowing your mind or what?
Btw, I find it interesting that both Dog and I decided to use some sort of melancholy string progression in the background... Maybe that's exactly what the original was lacking?