Ra-X ‎– The Opium Den (Parts I - IV)

An interesting release, this, the first release on new Scottish label Milky Robert from not-so-new Dutchman Vincent Koreman aka RA-X. While I'm fairly indifferent to the A1 and B1 tracks - to my ears they are somewhat over simple dubby efforts with rather out of place clangy noises - the spooky electro/techno blend of the A2 and B2 tracks make this record well worth owning, and are a welcome addition to my small but growing collection of releases reflecting the sound of Bunker, Viewlexx and other prominent Dutch electro and techno labels.

Unfortunately the numerical dyslexia suffered by the label owners led to this being limited to 330 copies rather than the infinitely cooler 303 that any self-respecting technoheads would have gone for. That error may in itself lend this release legendary status in years to come, but if not then it is more than made up for by the amazing scratch-and-sniff technology incorporated into the pressing. The browny-purple colouring is obtained from adding small amounts of hemorrhoid infected diarrhea to the vinyl mix before pressing. When chopping this up on the ones and twos (in this case, "scratch" refers to the DJ technique) a subtle but detectable odour of human faeces emanates through the air around the DJ. Very cool, but best played at open air events.

"Vorsprung durch haggis", as they say in Scotland.