I really didn't know what to expect with this record and after listening to the a-side, I feared it would be an excursion into the dreaded realm of dubstep. But upon flipping over to the other side (on 45rpm), I discovered the most unique and heartbreakingly good 6 minutes of listening I've done this year. Way too short but so, so damn good. I would rate both of the b-side tracks on the same level as Aphex Twin's 'Boy/Girl Song' and Emotional Joystick's 'Eight' in terms of the level of emotion they invoke.

Seriously, buy this record. If you don't like it, hit me up and I will buy it from you so I can have a spare copy for when I wear this one out.

The first thing that struck me about this record is the aggressive Diamondog vocal and how, even though I honestly can't make out the words of most of it, the cadence and ferocity of it would have a really hyping effect on a crowd. Not a centerpiece, but a great bit for somewhere near the beginning of a set. The beats reminded me heavily of Enduser's 'Caustic Damage EP', and that's certainly a good thing. Simple but punishing. Overall, a great job integrating the vocal over a strong beat that allows it room to breathe.

LXC turns in a nice head-nodder using only a few snippets of the vocal, tons of delay and some serious BASS*. I see this version mixing well with some of the more frantic amen workouts in your crate and, on it's own, taking the energy down a notch while still nailing people to the floor.

*Serious bass from a 7"? Believe it. This is mastered as loud as any 33 cut 12" you'd care to put it up against.

Istari Lasterfahrer has been doing his thing since the early 90's and you can really feel the influence of that era on this, his first real full length album. Put gabber, early rave and early jungle in a blender, puree, add some guitar samples for garnishment and serve with a side of chiptune and this is what you'll get.

There are way too many good tracks on here to do a play by play, but just know that this album is the doggie's hangers. Amazingly, I can't really find a track on here that I can say I don't like, no joke. For the most part, everything on here is very mixable and on a fun, happy vibe. Favorite tracks? 'Get Slick Like Hardcore Shit' for it's "All ya other DJ's all a buncha jerks" sample fuckery. 'MDMA' for being possibly the best intro piece ever for a rave set, basically a ditzy girl describing her first MDMA experience with various delays and pitching effects over it. But the best track on here has got to be 'Break Of Dawning.' It starts with piano and the standard amens and then in comes a guitar sample that instantly reminded me of the one in Aaron Spectre's 'You Don't Know.' Then a female vocal saying something about "I'm shakin my ass till the early mornin" drops into the mix and is pitched up gradually, really driving things to a peak. All of the elements just work together perfectly and make up a track that could be weaved in and out to drive a dancefloor crazy. A real 4am kind of track.

So if you're a fan of Istari's past material, you'll like this. Just think of it as the crown jewel in his catalog. And if his stuff is foreign to you but you like fun, ravey music, start here and work your way back. To put it simply, just run out and buy it!

I've been following FFF closely since the first time I heard his Clash 7" and he's really a chameleon of sorts, having done many different styles and done them well. But this one is the kind of sound I tend to associate with him. That being breakcore and jungle with extreme ragga and rave influences. Not a hint of irony in sight, just 'Ardkore brought into the 21st century and given steroids. This is his sound. The only record in recent memory that I think I could possibly mistake for an FFF production would be Pisstank's "Ravecore Anthems."

On this yellow 7" you get one track more on the ragga side and one that is ravecore to the bone. "Sodomize A Rasta" is the faster of the two and utilizes hoovers, insanely chopped breaks and some of the same samples used in his "Punisher" track last year. But there is also some seriousness in it, as he drops a sample addressing the homophobic language and attitudes that pervade Jamaican dancehall culture and, by extension, much of the ragga jungle that samples from it. "Your Time Is Up" is centered around a great pitched up female vocal but also utilizes acidic elements and a piano line. A little less frantic and chopped, this is the more dancefloor friendly of the two tracks. The A-side is like a hammer to the face and the B-side more like a rubber mallet.

This is fast becoming one of my favorite FFF records, and that's saying quite a bit when you look at his extensive back catalogue. These tracks are a little more out there than, say, his Planet Mu record and that suits me just fine. If you want ravecore that isn't the butt of it's own joke, track this one down.

Not much to get terribly excited about this time from I:gor and, though I hate to say it, it seems like his productions have been getting a little lazy as of late. A prime example of this is the cheesy sample in the opening track repeatedly declaring "I chose the underground." Well, yes, that's kind of a given and the sort of thing that eventually made Rotterdam gabber a laughing stock (Neophyte, etc.). This shit pounds, for sure, but there is a definite formula emerging here and the tracks sound very similar to each other with not much changed but the voice samples. If I had to pick one track that I'd probably play, it would be "God Left This Place" because it has more of a fist pumping peak time vibe to it. More aggression, I guess, which is ultimately what this style of music aims for.

The verdict? Definitely not essential and, to me, a real letdown after the first Nekrolog1k release, which was significantly better.

One look at the artists featured on this EP will tell you that this is a rather ambitious undertaking. Unfortunately, the A side is not something I can recommend. It's pretty much standard gabber, with the Hellfish track repeatedly dropping a sample of some guy saying something about pissing on you. The Bryan Fury track is a little better, with a swatch of disjointed melody and slightly more imaginative drum programming, but still, in my opinion, a dud.

But the B side is where things really pick up. The DJ Hidden track is very heavy and on the more fractured side of things. Dark, creepy samples, good progression and, overall, yet another mark in the win column for him.

The Somatics track is the black sheep on this record. When played on 33, as I believe is intended, it is like some kind of dark safari through a landscape of twisted electronics. Dubstep tempo, but it's surely not dubstep. Hard to explain, really, but suffice to say that it's Somatics in experimental mode, which is generally a very good thing.

Overall, the Hidden and Somatics cuts make this worth purchasing and the gabber stuff is pretty much in the same vein as the stuff that turned me off from Deathchant about five years ago.

"Reality Collapse" is THE track of 2009, full stop. This is DJ Hidden at his very best, in my opinion, as he combines gabber, hardcore drum and bass and, last but not least, a sublime acid line. Mark N has been caning this one for a long time now and the first time I heard it was when I saw him play. In a set full of amazing moments, the breakdown in this track flat out sucked the air out of the room with the creeping acid line and then the drop blew everything to pieces. Maybe it was the time and place (a sweaty room packed full of heads raised on Midwest acid), but this track has burned itself a cozy little place in my brain. Over a year later and some kind of flashbulb memory takes me back to that room every time I hear it. But my personal experience aside, this track is the real deal and needs to be in your crate. In a word, amazing.

Going into this one, I expected the DJ Hidden track to be the standout, as many of the Throttler's tracks that I've heard have been a little on the repetitious side and often have an odd bit of off timing in the track that makes them awkward on the DJ side of things.

But I think the Hidden cut falls flat here. The production quality is excellent as always, but this one just sounds like a "Later After" outtake. Too slow for my tastes and, though fairly pounding in some spots, it just doesn't hit the spot that many of his other productions hit for me. Might be alright as a transitional bit in the mix, but just too samey if you play it too long. But to be fair, with as many tracks as he gets pressed, you can't expect all of them to be bangers, nor should they be.

Now the Throttler cut on the other hand is a slick, pounding, morphing track that kind of epitomizes this hardcore drum and bass thing that's been going on for a while now. Deep bass, stuttered repetition and slowly building into gabber flourishes. Dancefloor damage. I'll definitely be playing this one quite a bit.

I don’t know why it took me so long to track down a copy of this little red slab of 8-bit goodness, but better late than never. Dispyz is an alias of Stagediver who, apparently, did not get the memo that Midwest hardcore is dead. And thank fucking christ for that because this 7″ and the other one he released this year are exactly what hardcore is all about. That being, in my opinion, complete disregard for trends and an unbending passion for one’s art. DIY to the core, and I have massive respect for that.

Similar to the previous 7″, this one is full of darkish 8-bit melodies, bursts of staccato speedcore rhythms and cheeky sampling. What I really like about these tracks is that high BPM’s are not shied away from, but it’s not speed for the sake of speed either. There are even a couple of mid-song tempo changes that I can’t wait to incorporate into a mix.

The bottom line? This is everything you loved about 1998 dragged kicking and screaming into 2009. And if there was any doubt about it, look out for a future Stagediver 12″ on none other than the mighty Distort label.

So this record finally hit my mailbox and it’s amazing to see something like this in 2009. ACID. I was just thinking a few days ago that it seems like nobody does that hard DBN style acid anymore and, sure enough, drop the needle on “The Infected” and it’s fast, hard, frantic and squelchy. I was stunned and so, so happy to hear this. It’s like a timewarp back to 1996 with a pounding and repetitive kick to guide you and shards of acid squelch flying around at double speed. Somatics were always great in this mode and they certainly haven’t forgotten how to do it. “Attack” is another acid workout, but without beats. The first half of the track is droning and moody and then you hear the twisted bass dueling with the squelcy highs the rest of the way out. This is an interesting track that will surely open up a lot of possibilities for mixing.

On to side B and “Survival” which is my pick of the record. It has a Pounded Mass style broken beat with sparse percussion over the top along with rig wrecking bass and shrill, metallic highs. It hits that sweet spot in the 180ish bpm range and the kicks go at half time, making this the best and most versatile track on the record from a mixing standpoint. You’ll have some fun with this one. “Future” is dark droning ambience without a beat or bleep in sight. Very moody and creepy. And finally comes “The Infected (Dark Acid Mix)” which is probably the biggest surpise on the record, as it is straight up acid house. I’m not usually a fan of this style because it just tends to be too slow for my tastes. So I probably won’t be dropping this one much, but I think as far as acid house goes, it’s pretty good. It is well produced, as you would expect, and there is a certain funk to it that can keep me listening.

As usual, Thac0 knocked it out of the park with the presentation on this record, with green vinyl and amazingly detailed artwork depicting zombies partaking in various zombie activities. Gruesome, really, and utterly awesome. All things considered, this is a great record and should not be passed up. With the wide variety on here, almost anyone should be able to pick out at least one track that will make it worth the price of admission for them.