Review: US compilation kings Straight Up! rep the glitch scene once again. Their fifth collection in this series, it's business as usual as they explore every corner of the globe for the most exciting, creative sounds of the genre. Naturally they've nailed it as we're bombarded with raw creativity. Highlights include the lush emotional west coast funk synths of Au5 & Fractal's "Subvert", the psychedelic acid bubbles of Mizchief's savage dub-twisted "Hitman", the euphoric synth jet streams of Virtu's "Reyes" and the more experimental, tightly edited vocal cuts and insane reverse bass techniques on Left Side Dear's "Grapefruit Incident". 25 tracks in total, there's no better representation of contemporary glitches, Straight Up have delivered big time.
Review: Long running Dutch imprint Work Hard Play Hard swiftly follow their first release of the year with this split EP delivering techno from the rowdier, more playfully peak time end of the spectrum. Jan Waterman's "Just Get It" could even be mistaken for latter day speed garage thanks to the heavy sub bass usage and ever present vocal loops, whilst crisp 808s and an undulating approach to rhythmic builds and prompts add the requisite energy. Alexey Kotlyar and Bilro & Barbosa for the much more straight down to business tribal thump of "Dirty Support" whilst the excellently named Christian Peak & Prude Polly drop industrial throbs with "Emotions".
