Dirty Blends レコード& CD

Review: Nation of Jak offshoot Dirty Blends was established by label chief Melvin Oliphant as a vehicle for "interpretations" and "homages" - in plain-speak hush-hush reworks, tribute tracks and those that sample liberally. The label's latest release is a compilation of sorts, featuring as it does cuts from a trio of artists. The Falcon steps up first with title track 'Sound The Alarm', a raw, jacking, bouncy and positive mind-melding blend of lo-fi synth stabs, sweat-soaked beats, fire alarm noises and restless drum machine fills. Over on side B, Grizzly Knuckles' 'Mad Bell' - a breathless, house tempo techno workout built around a nagging synth-bell loop - is followed by label regular The Jak's 'Aftermath', which sits somewhere between jacking lo-fi techno, UK funky and stab-happy Soca-house.

Review: Vinyl debutants The Kid N Cliff (most likely an alias for a better-known artist or artists) are the latest outfit to join the ranks of "interpretation" and "homage" specialists Dirty Blend. There are two tracks on offer, both of which are pleasingly epic and stretched out. A-side 'Don't Be Alarmed' is raw, spaced out and analogue rich, sounding like a light-tough rework of an early jacking Chicago house cut or obscure proto-techno treat from the early 1980s. 'Heavy Thump (Bangdatshyt)' sounds like an edit (or tribute to) something from a similar period - all jacking, lo-fi machine drums, deep and filtered bass, vinyl crackle, Ron Hardy builds, and more sampled drums. Whatever it references - and early Chicago house is the obvious comparison - it's breathlessly brilliant.