12 tracks in 2 years by Photek on his first own label which shares its name with Parkes' (now) most famous pseudonim. The name 'Photek' was actually first used for the label and was only later adopted by the artist. I feel that collectively these tracks are the producer's best output, and represent Photek's strongest contribution to jungle.

There simply is not a single weak track here over the six 12"s and although the more well known are 'UFO', 'Rings Around Saturn', 'The Seven Samurai' and, arguably 'The Water Margin', all tracks feature creative sampling and ridiculously intricate work with breaks, whilst all retaining the dancefloor edge. Harder tracks, such as the above mentioned 'The Water Margin' and 'The Lightning' are present on these releases together with softer, more atmospheric material such as 'Complex' and 'Fusion', but the quality on this label is universal.

A common, perhaps coincidental theme here is science and planetology, as evident from track titles. As such i think of Photek's approach to music during this time as scientific, which stands in contrast to much of the mediocre ragga-jungle output in the genre at the time. The quality of artwork across these releases further established 'Photek' as a truly special label.

The 'Photek' label, apparently launched by Parkes with a loan from the Prince of Wales Youth Business Trust shows the quality control rarely seen in jungle/dnb, with all releases being collectable material for old skool jungle heads.

Music Box by the early Full Cycle crew is a landmark in history of jungle/dnb; i am yet to hear something quite like it. This is probably the jazziest approach to jungle, both in terms of sample use, and track structures.

Tracks present here are not similar to the Good Looking Records vibe of mid 90's as they are not so reliant on deep atmospherics, rather these tracks are a lot more minimal, but with enough melodic samples to keep them interesting, in most cases. A strange feeling of 'live' music is present on these tracks, with 'The Chill' by Bill Riley going all the way and actually using certain live instrumentation, which, as far as I know, was unheard of at the time.

'Welcome The Drummer' is an amazing opening track, with lush strings and the drop not properly coming in for 4 minutes or so. 'Breakbeat Era' kickstarted the acclaimed project of the same name, and 'Music Box' is just funky. The last 3 tracks are all on the similar tip, rolling along with some very original samples.

The minimalism of this album is perhaps the reason why it never produced any anthems, and is not particularly hailed by the jungle community; in some cases i even feel the tracks would benefit from variation, such as on 'Mellow Song' which, although starting with a gorgeous piano/rhodes sequence sample, then drops into a beat and bassline looped for pretty much the rest of the track.

However the overall jazzy feel of this album is undeniable, it is one of the few jungle/dnb album i can listen through in its entirety. Its a shame Roni and the rest of the crew ended up releasing only dancefloor material (which was however also, up to a point, excellent), this proves the musical heights the Bristol boys are capable of achieving.

Highly recommended.

Photek delivers a dark and stomping re-lick of Goldie's 'Still Life' from the Timeless album. The eerie FX on this will really make one's hairs stand on end, it's an amazing example of how deep jungle got in mid 90's. The work with breaks here is also worth mentioning (as with most of Photek's production at the time); reversing and stretching is put to full use.

On the flip is Photek's rework of his own 'The Rain'; a slightly tweaked version of an already classic piece to give it more of an edge.

Essential dark jungle, and some of Photek's best.