Review: While Modern Underground Music Volume 1 may be a cumbersome title, it's certainly accurate. You see, this split EP is unflinchingly contemporary and touches on a multitude of styles and sounds. There's some loose, off-beat, hip-hop influenced instrumental action (Artie Strongman's delicious "Impressed To Dress"), some fuzzy analogue house gear (the Disco Nihlist-ish "Chasing Rainbows" by Fholston Paradigm) and even a dash of spacious, slightly cosmic hip-house (Monty Luke's "Through The Galaxies"). The Carter Brothers also dazzle with their trip back to the days of loose-limbed techno (check the Detroit riffage and tribal drums on "Ritual Business"), while Kuru goes all crunchy and spooky on the excellent "The Draconian Hybrids". Top stuff.
Review: Erstwhile drum & bass pioneer Photek has enjoyed something of a renaissance of late, turning his hand to post-dubstep bass music and, perhaps more surprisingly, 4/4 tech-house. Here he offers up three previously unreleased cuts, all of which were included on his recent DJ Kicks mix. The standout is arguably "Fountainhead (DJ Kicks)", a bleep-heavy collaboration with Kuru that fuses Photek's traditional pads, melodies and filmic style with loose, post dubstep beats and future garage vocal cut-ups. That said, there's plenty to cheer elsewhere, not least the steppin', Carnival-themed atmospherics and deep electronics of "Azymuth".
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