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Reviews:
Equinox (3) - Acid Rain - 23-Nov-08 02:48 PM
Equinox strips down the essence of jungle, reducing it to its component parts. The amen gets a good going over in this one as pretty much all of its percussion is chopped and chopped again without remorse. This is preceded by a vocal sample saying "acid rain" over some strings before the mayhem commences. As the track gathers pace a rather low bass is unleashed lending the track some weight that your average darts player would be proud of. The drum driven forest becomes denser and darker as it rolls along, flanging out the rides before dropping back in repeatedly fooling the dancers in to a false sense of security. Its amazing to think that this tune was written on an Amiga in 96 yet it still rocks like a bastard.
Breakage takes the drums from the original and mashes them up even more. The beats are stretched to their limit as a wave of edits cascade from the speakers yet roll and flow so well. Even the sub is given the once over and taken down a level in to the bowels of the earth itself. As the track reaches its climax Breakage appears to put the breaks through a cheese grater just to see what they look like and the result is an abrasive sideways look at rhythm but clarity soon follows. A stunning tune and a stonking remix.
Spirit - Untitled - 23-Nov-08 02:48 PM
Spirit harking back to his early days with this promo ltd to 1000 copies. Well worth getting hold of especially if you liked Raygun or its subsequent remix. The a-side brings some nice amens and stabs with Spirits own brand of crushing sub bass. The flip however is much more subtle. Leading with a stepping beat and ghostly echoed atmospherics its sinister edge sucks you in as the tune progresses up to the first breakdown. Then Spirit conjures a monstrous descending sub from the mist and the beat kicks back in and gains extra momentum after the second breakdown as the bass snakes in and out of the mix. Fans of early techstep will love this one.
Ultra-Violet
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Raserblade - The Belonging / One Minute Of Time - 23-Nov-08 02:47 PM
Ultraviolet bringing a rather metallic set of breaks to the table this time as the beats thunder out of a dark noise backdrop. Plenty of nice beat progression torwards the drop and a subtle vocal refrain sets the scene for a rather Bristolian fluttering bassline to enter the fray at the breakdown. Not even resorting to a cheesey kick roll the beats filter their way back in and the track kicks off properly with good interplay between the sub and higher pitched bass sounds. Id really love to know what the vocalist is singing as it sounds like some kind of railing against conformity if my interpretation is correct. A quality rolling tune.
8/10
One the flip Razorblade also use a rolling bassline interspersed with the occasional break for stabs every 64 bars or so and the track keeps rolling. This is a good set building track as it has plenty of tension in the mix and the production from Blue and J Razor is suitably crisp and the whole thing is difficult not to nod your head to.
7.5/10
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Terry Tee - Jungle Man Army - 23-Nov-08 02:46 PM
Another heavy release from the Congo Natty camp, keeping the style firmly in the ragga vein Sizzla lays down some quality vocal while Terry T chops up some tasty stepping beats. This track might be a good opener at the start of a night as it starts off hip hop before launching in to jungle after about a minute and a half of head nodding action. As the track gathers momentum some old skool bells are introduced and the vocal is cut at the second breakdown. This is where the track really comes in to its own as a classic stepping groove emerges and a bassline of monolithic proportions joins the madness. Guaranteed to get those bashment dancers stepping until they fall over.If this is the direction that the Natty crew are headed then itd be worth keeping your eyes and ears out for the High Grade 2 EP which comes out next year.
Bizzy B - Afraid Of The Dark / The Darkside - 23-Nov-08 02:45 PM
A couple of pretty mental tunes from Bizzy on this ltd to 200 copies 10" vinyl release. Only available online from juno and bizzys website this is one for all fans of 95 ruffness. The a-side uses some digitalesque mentasmy sounds which is one of the few elements in this track which goes in a straight line. One for the dancing to the bassline crew without a doubt. The basslines bellows away in a subtastic fashion for much of the track keeping the groove rolling throughout. Its a good tune but sounds like a few others blended together.
The b-side intros with some subtle pads and quickly cuts out the beats before a "darkside" vocal sample kicks in and the track rumbles off in to the distance at a pace. The beats consist of some nice ameny edits and the track doesnt have that many other elements apart from the bare drums and bass but this doesnt stop it treading an interesting path between old and new weaving some classic housey stabs in to the second breakdown before kicking off again. A quality release overall and nice to see the 10" vinyl format being revisited.
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100.0% positive
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