Paul Birken At Juno Download

Review: Paul Birken and Freddy Fresh are veterans of the techno and electro scenes in the US - and this split release shows that thankfully, they have no interest in jumping on contemporary bandwagons. Fresh demonstrates his b-boy credentials on "Years Back", where hiccupping 808s and swathes of electro bass remind the listener of a freer, more exciting time. Electro also makes an appearance on "Fifty is Shifty", but in this instance, the drums house screeching riffs and the sound of someone torturing a metal panel with a jackhammer. But Birken's "Acid Youth of Malibu" is even more intense thanks to its walls of acid and a truly gnarly bassline.