Critical Sound’s new double disc album can be appreciated on two very different levels. Listening to disc one at home at a low volume will immerse you into a sea of soothing sound. Deep, warm bass removes your mind of all stresses and waves of break beats and jungle kicks lap at your consciousness making you aware of each tracks individuality.
Listening to disc two, louder on some decent equipment gives off a completely different vibe. Volume allows every minor detail to be heard in the organised chaos of sounds. The dreamy soundscapes created in the intros lure you into a false sense of security before dropping into manic shuffles of breaks and beats seasoned with glitches, whirls and white noise. Critical music is home to talent from across the globe, and the album echoes the labels diverse taste. The album includes the likes of Break, Spectrasoul, Calibre Serum and Sabre, and although you may not recognise some of these artists these guys the backbone of the scene and are the influences and icons of many of its flourishing new comers.
Many DnB compilations today are mixed, but this means that most of us never get to hear the whole of a track. This album however is unmixed. This way we get to hear the tracks as the producer intended them from start to finish. There are three tracks that stand out amongst the rest; Serum + Bladerunner’s ‘Images’, Stray’s ‘Timbre’ and Sabre + Kasra’s ‘Designated’. Individually Sabre and Kasra are responsible for some of the biggest tunes on the DnB/breaks scene in recent years, so there could be no doubt in anybody minds that when these guys got together it would be nothing but pure brilliance. This tracks complex drum patterns are softened with bongos and serve as a perfect juxtaposition to the simple sci-fi sounding melodies.
If any tune could be described as schizophrenic it would be ‘Timbre’. The start of the track transports you to the scene of a dark and grotty horror film, the setting is eerie and bleak. The drums which follow no time signature are reminiscent of a scared, irregular heartbeat, then from nowhere come bursts of crazy but perfectly configured jungle complete with shards of deep cutting bass. Serum who has been producing jump up tunes of late has teamed up with Bladerunner to produce what could arguably be labelled the best track on the album. ‘Images’ is one roller that can easily interchange from chilling in your room to filling the floor.
Another highlight of this album is Calibre’s ‘Tru Beat’. True to form Calibre beautifully layers strings and synths against a backdrop of the classic amen break. A ragga tip is added to the tune through the laid back vocals of Lariman. Listen out for One 8 7’s ‘Ten Years’. Apart from the shuffling beat the only sounds on this track are a section of noises which sound like an oddly tweaked games arcade from the 70’s Other tracks to keep an eye on are; Kasra- ‘Perception, Technicolour- ‘Freedom Theme’ and Jubei ‘Outcast’.
This is a feature purely for the heads and as im sure you will all agree it was well worth bringing to your attention.
Review by Nicola Elliott
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