Istari Lasterfahrer
Walls Cave In On You
(Sozialistischer Plattenbau)
A very interesting 12 inch we have here. From acid electro breaks over more abstract modular synth experiments to noisy dub and dubcore you get a good insight into the diverse works of Istari Lasterfahrer. The B3 track Pourquoi Moi is my favorite tune, combining dub echo, sirens, vocal snippets and rolling jungle breaks to a real instant classic tune. The record is neatly packed in a psychedelic full coloured sleeve together with an A2 poster in the same style, limited to 250 copies and pressed on white vinyl.
John Pain + Egadz
Sinking Swimmer
(Luana Records)
Luana Records from Bern, Switzerland are releasing experimental hip hop, raw downtempo and similar music in strictly limited runs of vinyl and cassettes, and as downloads on bandcamp. This 10 inch contains 7 more or less short instrumental tracks with distorted heavy drums that sound like a real drum kit, surrounded by noisy synths and bass. Menacing and dark, illbient-like. Limited to 112 copies with a silk screened cover.
Dead Fader
Scorched (Small But Hard)
Blood Forest (Robot Elephant Records)
In Cover (Robot Elephant Records)
A very productive John Cohen aka Dead Fader released two full albums and a 12” almost simultanously in spring 2014. The albums both come with very nice matching sleeve designs by illustrator Simon Fowler, part of the SMH crew and owner of Cataract Publishing in London. Blood Forest with 12 tracks contains some of his calmer compositions, a mixture of swaying melodies, electronica, bass music and idm. Scorched however comes with 10 tracks of his gruff and tearing trademark sound, clean and abrasive at the same time. Clanging beat, crashing synths, my favourite. The 3 tracks on the album teaser 12” In Cover are in the vein of the Blood Forest album. As bonus you get the two excellent tracks Mandel and Ceaser from the Scorched sessions which are unfortunately just being digitally released.
Various
20 Years Of Praxis
(Praxis 20)
This cassette was released in May 2013 to celebrate 20 years of Praxis Records and closes the gap of catalog number 20 in the Praxis back catalog. Flawlessly mixed by Diskore, Baseck and Fiend of Darkmatter Soundsystems from Los Angeles. It is put together as a continuous 84-minute-long mix, including a terrific selection of tracks from the 50 records Praxis has released to this date since 1992. It is also available as a digital file at sites from Praxis and Darkmatter for free. Essential release.
Various
E.A.R 1
(E.A.R)
4-tracker with hard acid techno and acidcore. Hammer Damage’s remix of a track by Fiend & Broken Rules is straight forward hardcore with a hectic acid bassline but a bit too generic way for me. Coexsystems’ track is dry and really fast acidcore with panic-fuelled synths and a canny use of the acid synth, my favorite track. Second best is Stak Etop with some broken rhythmics and noise samples over a 4/4 base. Last is Toysfornoise with straight hardcore and metallic synth modulation. On white/grey marbled Vinyl.
Clvb Drvgs
Beach Blanket Bong Out
(Grindcore Karaoke)
Strange dreamy music for a day at the beach – on nyquil. Gooey 80s synths over beach soundscapes and relaxed beats, you need another sip of the purple cough sirup. Part two sounds like the way back from the beach in the evening, the sunburn is immense and you need a piña colada and a prawn cocktail – food poisoning gives you the night fever.
Lowcut & Sub
Detachment Dub / The Big Milking
(45Seven)
One of eight so far released 7”s on the 45Seven sublabel of Alphacut at the moment, specialized in dub and dubby drum & bass. Lowcut’s Detachment Dub is the better track for me with faster breakbeats, rousing beats and melodies but a laid-back structure. The Big Milking on the other side is an easy dub/d&b tune with reduced drums and a somehow tense humid feeling. Nicely designed like vintage reggae 7”s, including a big center hole.
Various
Memento Mori
(Hijos de Puta Records)
Saoulaterre, the man behind Cavage records and part of the Frotte Connard graffiti crew/explorers of the catacombs of Paris, passed away in summer 2013 at the age of 40. This record is a farewell to him from four of his friends and long time companions El Gusano Rojo, Dan Hekate, Nomex and Metatron aka C.Fringeli. Paul Nomex plays an especially sad role here, because he tragically died in a motorcycle accident in early 2014 and wrote an obituary to himself with his track. The music on the record comprises a very good uncompromising radical mixture of harsh noise and dark breakcore. 4 tracks on black/light blue splattered transparent vinyl in a full printed artwork sleeve.
La Manufacture Des Bruits De Fond Présente
“Pas D’Erreur”
(Bruits De Fond)
A six-tracker with technoid breaks from C_C, freestyle hardcore with that hardware feeling from Ripit, and a slow industrial breaks and noisy ambience from Muckrackers on side A. On the other side is Electric Kettle with a fast, quite straight, moving sound that reminds me of his live sets. Next is Jean Ferraille with the title giving pas d’erreur. I don’t know what the French vocals on top are saying, but the music is a hardcore/noise mixture reminding me of Low Entropy’s old stuff somehow. Lost Forgotten closes the record with a sluggish melancholic downtempo tune with noises on top. A very nice roundup in a printed artwork sleeve limited to 300 copies. It is dedicated to Boris Saoulaterre and to yet another loss to the music scene, Yann ‘Dub’ De Kéroullas, owner of Reverse Prime Cut and Reverse Records who also passed away much too young in the summer of 2013.
The Nest
Music From Co-Drivers
(Self-Released)
This self-released cassette is a remix album of The Nest’s first LP Music For Drivers, a mix of free jazz, improvisation, noise and experimental electronics on Denovali in 2012. Ten musicians from the fields of breakcore, noise and experimental music were asked to take over the steering wheel for a bit and they delivered some very unique and diverse remixes, from hard breaks to smooth dubby electronica. Remixers are Noize Creator, Ashtar DXD, Christoph De Babalon and Schlammpeitziger, among others. 60 minutes of music with a printed cover, limited to 70 copies. Another 25 copies were sold as a special edition with a card board box, including an 8GB USB stick in key shape with lots of video material and the tracks as mp3. The release can also be found as digital download at their bandcamp site. A follow-up LP to the first album is also already released, named Sayweenjoy.
Spathic
Dead Analogue // Devil Magicks
(Grindcore Karaoke)
10 track file release on the web label of J. Randall (Agoraphobic Nosebleed). Some of the tracks have a slow, delirious atmosphere, while others burst into hounded noise and faster breakbeats. Feedback and bass are all over the release, some hip hop traces buried under lo-fi sounds. The whole thing sounds like what one of the best track’s name suggests: Feverdreamer.
Il Boy
Dubcore Volume 9
(Sozialistischer Plattenbau)
Lashing up-tempo dancehall rhythmics with hypnotizing bell (?) melodies and stomping bass, the ‘crisis riddim’ in two versions. Sozibau calls it sped-up footwork. To me it sounds dangerous and funny at the same time, a good mix – rumble in the jungle!
Acid Diaper
Torture95 / Nno
(L/B Recordings)
Torture95 is a mediocre 4/4 hardcore remix of Panacea’s VIP torture with some amen breakdowns and synth stabs but nothing remarkable. The only thing in common with the original track is the speech sample. The other side is better, even if it samples the ‘oh long johnson’ talking cat from the net – just ignore that. The rest consists of a nice intro that builds up some tension that gets released with the same breakbeats from the A-side in a better way with interesting drum programming and a dark synth on top. Acid Diaper seems to be a hardcore project from Limewax with a not so serious approach. Still, Nno would be way better without the naysaying feline.
Otto V Rhino / NW
Untitled
(Rohs Prod.)
Otto V Rhino aka Keiji Katsuda remixes NW aka William Nurdin and vice versa. Raw scraping noise experiments with a live action feeling in a pretty silkscreened colored sleeve, limited to 150 copies. For fans of lo-fi noise.
Amboss
Vision
(Praxis 53)
Praxis continues with number 53. Four tracks – four styles – there is something for everyone. breakcore, hard drum & bass, dubstep, techno in the trademark Amboss bludgeoning style. The A-side is more typical for him with the hammering fast Machinery, and my favorite Vision Two, a perfect breakcore track, relentless with unpredictable beat switches in the vein of his Mindbender 12”. The other side starts with the slow, menacing Odd Code, close to dubstep but noisier and more agressive. The hard techno track is unusual for the label and the producer, but why not. It sounds like the techno d&b tracks of Amboss without the broken beat structures.
müllGRMM-TÜTEsk
(Self-Released)
A collaboration of Finland’s Grmmsk and Berlin punk’s Mülltüte. Dystopic 80s-like lo-fi industrial soundscapes, stretched voices and screamed vocals mixed with dub elements. The 5-track 7” comes in a nice spray painted and rubber stamped handmade cover in different versions.
Nomex
Live At KIPL
(Sabbatical)
This cassette documents a live performance recorded on 29 January 2011 in Melbourne. A good 18 minutes long utilising contact microphones on a vinyl plate and a knife, with a amplifier and loudspeaker. Starting very calm and quiet, it gets more and more intense as it goes on, adding tweeter killing harsh noise feedbacks over growling bass in the typical and beloved Nomex manner. Both sides contain the same track. Limited to 50 copies and available as download for free at the Sabbatitcal bandcamp. R.I.P.
Utku Tavil
Beetz/Beatsz
(Self-Released)
Utku Tavil is an experimental drummer and noise musician of Turkish descent residing in Berlin at the moment and jack-of-all-trades as solo artist and in different groups. He also organizes the Multiversal events all over the city. This CDR and file release shows some of his solo work, a one-shot recording with drums and computer parted in 31 tracks. Fast chaotic Free Jazz drumming combined with harsh agressive screeching noises, feedbacks, pleeps and plonks. A perfectly timed explosive outburst.
Animalhouse: Neater This Time / Sandy (W.A.S.O.)
Mr DNA X DOS4GW: Demons World / Dos Castle Dos
(Hirntrust Grind Media)
7“s number 37 and 38 on transparent brown and orange clear vinyl. Both releases are again experimental, slow and dark underground hip hop and horrorcore with reduced beat constructs and morbid lyrics. Hirntrust concentrate their focus on the excellent and recommended Hirnplatzt zine label at the moment, but hopefully bring out more disturbing good music in the future.
Spin Dynamics
As I predicted in the last issue of Datacide, this label has become one of the most interesting in current experimental electronic music. A very steady output bestow us five more 12 inches with plenty of great tunes.
Spin 05 – Tata Kuuntelee? is from Kuk Hullu aka Stak Etop from Finland. Eight tracks of broken beats and raw electro breaks reminding of New Skin or Hex, sometimes with an 8 Bit touch. It comes with a bonus 7” from the same guy under his Knacks Stehkopf moniker with 3 more tracks of techno, breaks and chiptune.
Spin-06 – Why do we dance? is a 4-tracker with Toysfornoise, DJ Gylend, Stak Etop and The Untitled. Classic acidcore and hardcore on this one.
Spin-D07 – Frontground Noise goes back to noisy broken beats, acid and electro breaks with Maurice Rebell, Rote Rakete, 0,5 and Zara Paz.
Spin-D08 – Always faster to disaster is probably my favorite so far with unusual broken beats from Maurice Rebell and C-Mantle, classic breakcore from Infinite Black, a beatless dark synth modulation from an unknown artist, and Mantrum with a track that reminds of Italian 90s techno. Very good.
Spin-D09 – Ideologie des Spaßes I, is the newest release and the label writes that it is the first part of a series that will strictly cover funky, happy and funny music. Again you get a wide range of styles like electro, breaks, acid, noise. Everything quite unusual and eclectic.
Terrificolor: N°50 TTT05
N’alov / Yogidata: Rate / Beach Block TTT07
Holzkopf: Brutalist Mantras – Manner Of Speaking TTT09
G4z: Schizoprenia TTT10
(ThirdTypeTapes)
A great tape label based in Brussels and Paris continues to release very good music. Terrificcolor brings 9 tracks of noisy fractured breakcore and breaks on the border to idm without the typical annoying melodic synths.
The split of N’alov and Yogidata is full of noise and brute power electronics, distortion and screams on side A and more lo-fi noise with dirty breaks, sad melodies and bass on side B. Then there’s Holzkopf from Canada with scraping, heavy industrial broken beats, and G4z with dark splintered glitch breakcore and idm breaks. Every release comes with nice sleeve and cassette designs by CCCPu.
TSO: Well To Hell
Hotrebor & Syrob: The Return
E-Dipo The Motherfucker Plays Musorgskij: Night On Bald Mountain
Kamokoffin: 1 A.M.
Bunny People: Hot Carrots
(Dancehole Records 1-5)
Italians Federico Chiari and Diego Marcon created this wacky tape label ‘to preserve and spread the old school hardcore sound and its attitude’, and as much as I was sceptical I was surprised after listening, it works. Some of the tracks are rather experimental while others are straight classic gabber with a Dutch touch. E-Dipo reinterprets some classic music from Modest Mussorgsky, and Kamakoffin uses also death metal and drones, Bunny people tend to techno and new beat. Korrekt 2,3,4….
(Trennlinie Zwischen Gesten Nr.3)
The newest issue of Jean Bach’s obscure ‘Magazine for non-DJ culture and analytical approach of Qualdreher/Brennfinger concepts’ comes, beside the normal edition, in an ultra limited special editon of 15 copies together with a blue cassette with different covers. 10 tracks from bizarre spoken word and industrial schlager to ambient, techno and rhytmic noise that complements the magazine very well. The music is also available as file release and can be purchased with the magazine or separately.
Mixrace
Dirty Amen / Express Yourself
(8205 Recordings)
Dev/Null, well known for his splatterbreaks with a good amount of rave, has also been a respected person in the hardcore and jungle scene for years now with his blog to the oldschool website, where he digs for the more obscure and unknown releases from ‘91-’95, reviews them, makes them available for the interested listener. He is also DJing this music regulary at junglertrain.net and frontline radio. 8205 Recordings is his new label where he carries this idea forward. On the first 12” vinyl are two previously unreleased 93/94 jungle tracks by Mixrace aka Paradox and DJ Trax. I am usually not a fan of female diva vocals in jungle but here it’s not too much and fits in, and is well compensated by ruff amen breaks with a hardcore/darkside feeling. A good first release, limited to 175 copies.
CyberCity
Various
(Entity Records/CyberCity)
Entity is the netlabel from Kaebin Yield and Atomhead releasing a wide range of experimental electronic music. This professionally pressed CDR seems to be the first physical output released at a party of the same name in Gent, Belgium. It contains 10 tracks of solid French and Belgian speedcore and flashcore, the typical fast mesmerizing and micro edited stuff you expect from Neurocore, Atomhead, La Foudre and others. Limited to 75 copies in a nice designed printed digipak sleeve.
Levels
Hypon De Venin C-B
(Gamma Oh)
New label from Brittany has 3 tracks of relentless pounding hardcore à la Gwakai or Malaria, and one track of dark ambient on this first 12”. The clichéd piano melody in track A2 abates my interest a little bit, but still a good and sinister release for fans of the old French hardcore.
Dressed In Wires
The Big Black Cock Of Death EP
(Distraction Records)
This is a strange release from 2006 that I overlooked somehow and found out about it recently. The artwork of this picture disc alone is a punch in the face using the iconic cover of Heino’s ‘Liebe Mutter… Ein Blumenstrauß, Der Nie Verwelkt’ LP on one side. Musicwise you’ll find industrial broken beats, Stunt Rock-like sample use, a kid rapping about sex, violence and gangster shit, massive breakcore, ragga vocals and harsh noise. A wild bunch of everything. On a scale ranging from ‘Gute Nacht, Mutter’ to ‘Ja, Ja, Wenn Mutter Lacht…’ I’ll give it a solid ‘Ich Hab’ Ehrfurcht Vor Schneeweißen Haaren’.
Mir
Shock Your Moneymaker
(A Tree In A Field)
Mir from Basel are Daniel Buess on drums, Papiro on string, wind instruments and synths, and Michael Zaugg on synthesizers, electronics and effects. For this recording session they were accompanied by percussionists Roman Bruderer und Chris Jaeger. Free jazz, avantgarde hardcore, noise and noise rock are the rough basic descriptions of their sound. The furious, nervous and menacing tone of this live recorded music is just hard to track down, but if you like 16-17 this might be the right thing for you. Produced by Alex Buess of 16-17 and God.
Papiro
Negativ White 2
(A Tree In A Field)
Two long live recordings on white vinyl. 19 minutes of drifty dubby electronica, space age synths and modulations done with a minimal set up of hardware machines recorded at a rehearsal for a concert. Comes with a colored A2 collage poster.
Various
Raketenbasis Haberlandstrasse 001
Another label founded by Sascha Schierloh aka Jean Bach with music in the style of his Brutal Little Rave Bastards series. Most of the tracks on side A are made by Jean Bach himself under his Bidol Cath moniker, joking about all stereotypes the industrial and techno scenes have to give – and there are plenty. The last track is a Xotox remix of a track from the last Rave Bastards 7”. The B-side is an almost 20-minute-long mixed track; a weird mixture of field recordings, techno and idm. Maybe the acoustic version of a dream that is descibed in the title of the track. Made by Cosmo Woslowski (whoever that is) who also writes the dream diaries in the Trennlinie Zwischen Gesten magazine. ‘Bitte versprecht mir mich mitm Läppi zu erschlagen, sollte ich jemals Ableton benützen’.
Ov3r Construct10n Part Tw0
Abstract Elements & Martsman/ Trisector, Creep & Phuture-T
(Alphacut Records)
Part two of a 3×10” remix set to celebrate the 10 years label anniversary. Abstract Elements Apathetic Vibe, originally released on Alphacut 22, remixed by Martsman is now a dubby tune with fatter beats and echos that let the original track sound a bit flat. The other side is Trisector & Creep’s Hollow from Alphacut 19 remixed by Phuture-T. It stays closer to the original but adds different drums and some synth stabs, giving it a dirty drum funk sound. 8 obligatory locked grooves are included as well. Limited to 303 copies; 51 of them are yellow.
Cyperkid
These Were Our Days
(Flop Beat Disk)
The 5th release on this Minorlabel subdivision is a 10” by Cyperkid aka Tlic with material recorded in 2005 and released in 2013. 4 tracks of gruffy, lo-fi, bit crushed rhythmic noise and broken beats, made of sounds from an album of Yipotash. 200 copies.
Gunter Saxenhammer: The Nth Degree
El Pibe: La Chasse Aux Sorcières
(Bruits De Fond – Dig it! 08+09)
The series of eclectic high quality digital mixes continues with a new mix by Saxenhammer who released three mix CDRs on BdF before. This time he plays an impeccable selection of current experimental broken bass music and techno to faster hardcore, flashcore and noise breaks. Some of the tracks are from Cloaks, Andrea Parker, Raime, La Peste, Saoulaterre, Ugandan Methods and Violet Shaped. The latest mix is from El Pibe, who delivers a very gloomy composition of industrial noise and techno, drones and broken beats. Included tracks are by Andrew Liles, Diamanda Galàs, Ślepcy, Subliminal, Lorenz Attractor, Vromb, Le Talium and more. All mixes can be found for download or stream on the Bruits De Fond website.
Cosmic Hell
Cosmic Lasagne
(Onibaba Records)
Henry Collins aka Shitmat and Shigeru Ishihara aka DJ Scotch Egg came together to jam, and this limited cassette was the result. The outcome are 19 tracks of avantgarde freestyle electronica mixed with psychedelic/garage rock. Interesting and totally different from their usual output.
GRMMSK: Dirty Snow
(Totes Format)
GrMMsk: Unfrei
(Totes Format)
This is Grmmsk from Finland with two cassettes of his own odd version of dub. Fluttering, stretched and cut vocals, clanging metallic riddims and sirens, organs buried deep in a hounding cold lo-fi atmosphere – industrial glitch reggae, dub from iced Helsinki.
Both tapes came in different limited editions with different handmade packaging and designs. The releases are also available as download on their bandcamp site. You’ll need long johns inna babylon.
(Acre Recordings)
Opine Ko$insky: The Last King Of Scotland Various: Iugeri Sonus IV
Raw Village Hall: Nothing But Mediocrity At The Shows
One of the best and most prolific netlabels at the moment is Acre Recordings from Edinburgh. The output spreads over a wide range of electronic music styles and these three releases are some of the harder releases so far.
Interesting cut up rap and ragga snippets over breakcore and noisy hip hop beats and samples from Opine Ko$insky – 3 tracks that give you an appetite for more.
Part four of the Iugeri Sonus free compilation series assembles some of the most interesting acts to date, Voors, Swarm Intelligence, C_C, Sturqen and C-Mantle (co-owner of the label), to name a few. Broken beats, industrial techno, undefinable noise breaks and glitch. This is the interesting and good side of current ‘bass music’.
Raw Village Hall aka Savier and one half of techno duo Savagen brings 3 original tracks and 2 remixes by Boris Noiz from Ontal and C-Mantle. Breakcore with dark drum & bass basslines, crispy old school edited fast amen breaks and a few gabber kicks I can live with. The remixes are totally different with industrial techno and fast experimental hardcore, but keeping the atmosphere of the originals. A release I would really like to have on vinyl.
Scanone/ FX/ Dexorcist/ Jerome Hill: Mayan EP (Yellow Machines)
A good old school sounding 4-tracker. Scanone’s original track is solid drum & bass with a dark bass synth, and the remix in typical Fx manner is a nice darkside jungle/hardcore version of it. Dexorcist with a hardcore tune with a light 2-step influence and Jerome Hill with an authentic UK-hardcore rave tune where the subtitle is the program: ‘Stuck in ‘91’. Gurn time.
Nebula / Enjoy: Spectrum Of Styles / Way Of No Glory (Bustle Beats)
Number 3 of the 10” series, limited to 300 copies with a special 9×9” sticker as part of a collectible cartoon sticker series by Louisa Donnelly. Nebula’s track starts with a dreamy trumpet and rhodes piano intro reminiscent of cheesy ‘97 fusion jazz d&b, but later on it is fortunately counteracted by a dynamic fast amen break and a fat sub bass. The other track by Enjoy is a solid jungle/drum & bass tune with nicely chopped breakbeats, but needs a bit more diversity in sound for my taste.
Stagediver: III
(Radiograffiti)
The A-side is hardcore to breakcore with reggae snippets and guitars, very old school, very nice. The other track sounds like lo-fi dubstep with amen breaks coming in later, mutating into a slow dark breakcore thing. Part three of a four part series of limited 7 inches produced with an Amiga600.
Coexsystems / Tripped / Traffik: Untitled
(BadBack Records)
Badback is an acid and hardcore label from Belgium and part of the Cyclone Recordshop from Gent. Three hard banging acid techno/hardcore tracks by Coexsystems, two of them in the classic Drop Bass Network style, and one faster and harsher. The fourth tune is by Tripped & Traffik, acidcore with speedcore parts and a nice remarkable breakdown. A bone-dry and sour affair.
Various: Sulla Giostra Nell’Ombra
(Violet Poison)
Habits Of Hate: Habits Of Hate
(Electronic Explorations)
Demdike Stare: Testpressing #001-#006
(Modern Love)
Millie & Andrea: Drop The Vowels [(Modern Love)
All those producers and labels are more or less located in the circles of the current dark industrial techno scene delivering really fresh and interesting up to date interpretations of techno music.
Berlin/Italian industrial techno/noise label Violet Poison is run by the duo Violetshaped. These are 4 very good tracks by O/H, Sunil Sharpe, Ontal and CSA. Monotonous techno to abrasive rhythmic noise and dark ambient on clear vinyl.
Habits Of Hate with the 3rd and newest 12” release on Electronic Explorations, which started as a positively received podcast series. Two hard and broken industrial techno tunes, where Limelight Roles is the better one.
Modern Love is a sublabel of Boomkat and releases different types of techno, and is more and more interesting recently with a darker and more experimental output. The records from the test pressing series of Demdike Stare are sought-after items, mixing techno, drum & bass, noise, industrial and other styles together in a unique and unpredictable way – a cold style with recognition value. Recommended material. Drop The Vowels from Millie & Andrea takes the same line with an experimental approach to jungle with big influences of techno, garage and ambient. Highlight might be the EP title track.
117 Recordings
DJ Trace: Mutant (Verb Revision) / Sonar (Quartz Remix)
Kid Lib / Tim Reaper: The Rifle / Something Unreal
Gremlinz & Homemade Weapons / Friske & Gremlinz: Scar-H / Lotus Blossom
Fade / Genotype: Crashing Stones / Aggression Snare
Forbidden Codes (Digital Bundle)
A new label started by DJ Trace, supporting many young and fresh drum & bass producers. Seven 10”s are released so far, those 4 awoke my interest in the label. The Trace one features 2 new remixes of some techstep classics with the tramen break, and what i expected in fact happened: they are not reaching the level of the old tracks; it’s a bit too random and tame, almost boring. Kid Lib and Tim Reaper are two newer producers I have followed for some time now, and I really like their old school sound with an up-to-date production level – tight stuff. Here you find a well edited amen break tune from Kid Lib, with a synth melody I definitely know from a 90s tune. Tim Reaper’s track is surprisingly without amen breaks to prove it’s possible to do without them. This is after an argument with a friend, who said he uses the amen too much. Gremlinz & Homemade Weapons track Scar-H is a great stomping stepper with amens on top, simple but very effective, maybe my favourite track on the label so far. The other side, together with Friske, is a tech steppy tune that never really starts. OK, but nothing special. Fade’s track on the last 10” is a dark jungle/d&b tune with nice beat switches and rave synth stabs here and there. Finally, Genotype, who is one of the old rocks in techstep drum & bass, delivers a solid but not too surprising track with a discrete darkside hoover synth on top which saves the tune.
They also released a 24-track digital release that should be out alongside a vinyl package, but I am not sure what happened to the vinyl as it’s not showing up on their websites, in shops or on discogs. However, it contains some interesting tracks by DJ Fox, DJ Trace, Kid Lib, Fade, Double O, Release, DJ Future and others.
Reviewed by Zombieflesheater