Sleepwalker - "Age Of Aquarius (No Surrender, No Retreat)" (L.D remix) - (5:58) 157 BPM
Hedgehog Affair - "Parameters" - (5:45) 143 BPM
DJ Mayhem - "Inesse" - (7:53) 154 BPM
Luxury - "Twirl" - (4:22) 61 BPM
The Invisible Man - "The Flute Tune" - (7:51) 160 BPM
Escape - "Escape" (The Optical mix) - (4:46) 154 BPM
Xray Xperiments - "Techcore" - (3:58) 181 BPM
Review: Blank Mind Recordings, based in London, has tapped into the significance of a particular strand of jungle and breakbeat hardcore music prevalent during the period of 1991-1994. Their latest compilation showcases eight tracks characterized by dense atmospheric breaks, featuring artists such as DJ Mayhem, Luxury, and Skanna from that era. The standout track, 'Inesse' by Mayhem, serves as the focal point around which the compilation is curated. Against the backdrop of a tumultuous political climate, notably marked by the passage of the stringent anti-rave Criminal Justice Act in 1994, this record and its pulsating compositions take on a renewed significance, reframed within a context of resistance and social justice.
Review: You can always rely on London's Blank Mind imprint to deliver the freshest, most gloriously noxious bass twists around. After a short hiatus, the label returns with four slithering licks of beats and low frequencies from South Africa's AudioBoyz, Durban's collaborative project consisting of Fatonic, Motion, Mudpunk and Njeh. Now, this particular strain of tribal dance music has been coined 'Gqom', and it's the perfect balance between urban and rural, modern and ancient. "Danger" and "Gibbon5", although different in their choices of sounds and aesthetic, are both made up of the same sort of ritualistic outlook that has been missing from the bass world for a while. "Insomnia" slices its sharp percussion stabs over a thin layer of bass and an even more stripped-down sonic landscape, leaving "The Legendary" to deliver the most musical content on this single, a dark and alluring wormhole of sonics.
Review: Blank Mind return with their first release since last year's all conquering Goron Sound platter from the Alan Johnson duo, and it's the turn of label founder Sam Purcell to show off his production skills once more as Dance. Lead track "Heyvalva, Heyvalva, Hey" is distinctively named and you are unlikely to forget the track once you hear it either, which plays out like a bizarro version of Demdike Stare's "Hashashin Chant". Whereas as that track was darkness personified, Dance's production is all about the lightness that surrounds the heavily chopped vocal that acts as a focal point as drums snap in and out of action. "Bottomless Pit" is however a much darker production, with loose half step 909 rhythms cascading in an erratic fashion almost in reaction to the sheer terror of the squalling synth tones and jagged junglist basslines. The sense of dystopian dread is only magnified by the foreboding titular vocal sample that repeats itself with a sense of desperation.
Review: Maintaining the impression they are more concerned with quality than quantity, the excellent Blank Mind label return with only their fourth release in two years and it's a dancefloor killer. A current criticism of current bass music is that so much of it lacks the requisite rudeness that made early dubstep and hardcore sounds so very vital. The debut 12" from the Alan Johnson pairing of Gareth Kirby and former Mindset artist Stickman demonstrates rudeness can still be achieved in the right hands. This pair of Peepshow fans evoke the spirit of dubstep at it's nascent best here in the implementation of basslines and samples yet it's executed in a thoroughly fresh rhythmic manner.
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