Various ‎– Sandwell District (Sampler Single Two)

The second and final sampler from the Sandwell District collective, one of the flagship labels at the moment, intended as a teaer of an upcoming album, slated for some undefined time soon. This 12" - printed on amazing clear blue vinyl - kicks off with an untitled track from Silent Servant aka Juan Mendez (who gave us a surprise appearance along Regis on the latest Sandra Electronics release on Downwards). It's fascinating, moody stuff, with a wraithlike hiss hiding behind a relatively unobtrusive bassline, which allows the abrasive and ethereal synth melody to properly breathe. The A side closes with a short, but richly textured ambient piece from Female (aka Peter Sutton), miles away from those leftfieldish, lo-fi industrial interludes you could stumble upon on his older releases.
The B side kicks off with another Silent Servant production, this time with a truly submarine kick drum, frantic shuffling hi-hats, aquatic radar bleeps and the odd Undependably variable and lively sweep. Last to bat is Regis who edits Female's broken beat ticker. His recent output has shown a tendency to detach himself from the heavy industrial techno he got known for recording for the Downwards imprint, and crossover into some more user friendly territory, more appropriate for present day dance floor demands. Those echoing, clashing broken beats gave me a sudden inspiration a few nights ago, as I mixed Aphex Twin's ancient Digeridoo right into the B2 track here! How did it turn out? I guess quite fine, given it was an urge I could not resist. It's a great tune and my favorite here, with reverberating, off beat percussion, and profound aural howls throughout the track.
This 12" is well worth owning, though if it's only a taste of a forthcoming album, you might want to hold on a bit more and wait for the real thing.