Blue States is Andy Dragazis from Sussex in England. This EP takes the main song from an EP he released in November '99 on Memphis Industries (the label he is on overseas in the UK) and gives us 3 new remixes in addition to the original version.

For me personally I still like the original version best. There are remixes by two Eighteenth Street Lounge artists, Desmond Williams and Thunderball. Thunderball has 2 mixes of the track. One is called the 'quiet and nice d&b mix' and the other the 'nice and deep mix'.

The original version of 'Walkabout' starts off with a spoken sample which says 'um..I wish everybody would be quiet...and nice...(and don't throw rocks)..yeah...(and don't shoot guns)..right..(and come home safe)..right..('cos we miss ya)'. What was written in reference to the Vietnam war by the male and female folk artists sampled (the male voice sounds like Johnny Cash) fits like a glove in 2003 as the US gears up its military machine preparing to launch a war which I for one certainly don't want.

Desmond William's mix repeats parts of the sample throughout and adds bongo accents. Thunderball's mixes concentrate on the smooth downtempo beat of the original track. The 'quiet and nice d&b mix' uses the portion of the sample where the woman says 'quiet..and nice'. It also uses the part where the Johnny Cash vocal says 'we miss ya'.

Thunderball ups the ante on the drumbeat in this mix, making it snappier and more up front in the mix. The 'nice and deep' mix is a mix of his mix. It concentrates almost entirely on the vocal sample and adds a almost eno-esque background that makes the mystique factor raise up high.

Even though I like the original version best, none of the tracks on this EP do anything less than please me if played singly.