Mark Spybey & Mick Harris - Bad roads, young drivers (2000)

The second part of Hushush's subscription-threesome pairs up Mark Spybey and Mick Harris. Good times are about to be had.

Another mail collaboration, this time Mick Harris was responsible for the source material, which he then sent over to Mark Spybey, who at the time of recording resided in Klaverland, Netherlands. Additional saxophone blares were contributed by the legendary Niels Van Hoorn of the Legendary Pink Dots.

Bad roads, young drivers puts more emphasis on the rhythm than the first part of the series, but as Sfumato was practically void of beats, that should come as no surprise to the observant listener.

Fusing together dark and brooding soundscapes, wicked sound manipulations and a truckload of diverse percussions, featuring everything from minimal hip-hop beats and mangled rhythms to furious drum and bass, Bad roads, young drivers certainly brings out the best of both artists. They do such a good job at blending their styles that it's hard to tell where Harris's input stops and Spybey's begins.

An eleven-track excursion with a couple of scorching head-on collisions await you. So better jump in the back seat, buckle up and let these young drivers take you down some truely funky bad roads. Enjoy!

Download part 1 | part 2
(95+45MB/320CBR)

Tech Level 2 - Hymn/Hard times (2000), Tempest/Lexicon (2001), Teknological/Master (2002)

Contrary to my earlier "one album at a time"-posts, I'm deliberately posting this batch of 12" EP's, kindly contributed by a reader of the blog, in one happy threesome, so that you can download and hear the progression between EP's for yourself.

Tech Level 2 is yet another project by Justin Broadrick, with the focus being on drum and bass. Having only heard Chemical before, a track featured on the Genetically unmodified- and Mind the gap Vol. 28-compilations, I was anxiously awaiting these tunes.

As I listened through these digitized pieces of wax chronologically, I was pleasantly surprised with Broadrick's sound- and beat-wise progression. While the first two EP's are nice pieces of solid drum and bass sounds, they sadly were not much more than that. Admittedly I had high expectations, and perhaps I set my "standards" a bit too high, as I had hoped for a bit more of a flogging sound.

If the previous ones were a bit of a letdown for me, most of my doubts were then cast aside as Teknological came on. The track builds up rather slowly, a calm before the storm, which then finally breaks out somewhere around two minutes into the track. Now, this is something I was looking forward to.

The furious Master isn't really going to give you any more room to breathe either. An assault on every front, armed with some howling bass and truely raging beats, this one stood out as my personal favourite of the bunch.

While not presenting us with anything truely groundbreaking, I like what Tech Level 2 had to offer. It's an honorary attempt at drum and bass by a bloke who is really into what he does, willing to experiment beyond those childish genre limitations of what is accepted and what is not. But like I stated above, my expectations were admittedly a bit too high this time around, and my hopes for another scorcher in the vein of Krackhead were a bit over the top.

While the first two EP's are lacking some crucial punch in a few right places, in my opinion Tech Level 2 still ends up on the positive side of things with Teknological/Master. Check it out and hear for yourselves. Enjoy!

Download the 'Hymn/Hard times' (Dub) 12"EP
Download the 'Tempest/Lexicon' 12"EP
Download the 'Teknological/Master' 12"EP
(Hymn/Hard times (Dub): 18MB/192CBR)
(Tempest/Lexicon: 15MB/192CBR)
(Teknological/Master: 18MB/192CBR)

Godflesh - Messiah (2000)

All roads must come to an end, and even my stream of Godflesh EP's is starting to run dry.

There's this certain missing gem though, namely Messiah.

The material featured on the disc is some of the gloomiest stuff ever presented by the band. The source material was recorded and mixed between 1994-1995, and put out on Justin's own Avalanche Inc. on CDr, in a limited run of 1000 copies. In 2003 Relapse records reissued Messiah with new artwork on CD.

The disc features eight songs, four tracks and their dub counterparts, with a running time of 50 minutes. The first four tracks present us with a broad spectrum of music and emotion.

Beginning with the desolate and hopeless atmosphere of Messiah, which in my opinion features some of the best vocal performances in a Godflesh song ever. Going through the beatfueled Wilderness of mirrors, the bass-heavy Sungod and ending up with the slowly creeping and erupting rage of Scapegoat.

Up next are the dub counterparts of the aforementioned songs. Justin used recognizable chunks of the original songs, threw in some dense and fat beats and reworked them into these massive sensory assaults. Blissful!

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Download part 2
(95+18MB/320CBR)

Godflesh - Love and hate in dub (1997)

Love and hate in dub. For some it's a curseword, a time when Broadrick's influences and other projects finally mixed into Godflesh. For others it was an eye-opener into more experimental and sample-based music. I witnessed a few, let's say rather close-minded, metalheads taking a surprising turn in audial interests after taking a few listens to this.

In all simplicity, Love and hate in dub is the band remixing their own Songs of love and hate, leaving out Amoral and Hunter. Like with any good dub, the emphasis lies heavily on the bass and beats. And trust me, there's plenty of those elements to share.

While Justin's guitars are mostly stripped away or buried in the mix, Benny's bass is pushed to the front of the mix, distorted and bellowing. Alongside this bass-heavy mayhem there's a wide array of beats thrown in. There's thunderous hip-hop beats, raging jungle- and breakbeats, cut-up and rearranged washes of white noise .. and most surprisingly, all of this seems to work out in the end.

A very diverse record, and one of the strongest remix albums to ever hit the market. The constant battle of the raging beats against the warm drones floating in the background is truely enthralling. Reflecting upon it today, I think the album has stood the test of time with flying colours. It's still that raging monster today, just like it was back then.

Download part 1
Download part 2
(95+57MB/320CBR)

Quoit - Properties (2001)

Here's one more album by Quoit. The familiar drum and bass-formula of the first full length has been refined even more, and out comes an album that is almost surgically stripped down to the bare necessities: drum and bass.

Like on the previous Quoit album, Harris once again dishes out enough low end and subzero bass frequencies to rupture holes into the space-time continuum. The second key aspect of this album is the thing which many artists, in any possible genre, are missing: atmosphere. The ambience and mood is reminiscent of his work with Lull, with harsh breakbeats and drilling bass layered on top.

If you happened to like the previous Quoit-album I featured, you know what you're in for. The sound is cleaned up even more, it's almost clinical in purity at times.

Those who are still struggling with the term drum and bass, give it a chance. I think this swirling mass of chaotic and mixed up rhythms, harsh and distorted beats, is purity at it's finest. This really doesn't give your eardrums much of a rest at any point, it's an sonic onslaught at all times. Be prepared for the audio artillery attacking you from every possible direction, drilling it's way into your brain with a barrage of noises and beats.

Mr. Harris, whatever you put your paws on, you never seem to disappoint. Try it, feel it, love it.

Download part 1
Download part 2
(95+19MB/320CBR)

Quoit - Lounge (1996)

Boys and girls, it's time to feel the love again. Just in time for the weekend, here's our dear Mick Harris unleashing one of the true masterpieces of drum and bass.

Don't worry, though. If you don't want positive vibes with your music, that's pretty much been stripped away here. Heavy drum and bass beats with isolationist soundscapes floating all around you. Very atmospheric!

The album features eight tracks, with a total running time of just under sixty minutes. Before you decide listen to this, heed a word of warning: The deep end on this album is HUGE. No kidding, the bass is somewhere really down and out there. Hope you enjoy!

Download part 1
Download part 2
(95+29MB/320CBR)

The Sidewinder - Implant (1997)

Continuing the path laid out on the previous release, The Sidewinder bleep and bloop their way through seven tracks on this 12"EP. If you're interested in the originals, go check the Discogs.com marketplace, the full length and 12" are going dirt cheap!


Download
(22MB/128CBR)

The Sidewinder - Colonized (1996)

The Sidewinder was another Justin/Kevin Martin project of the mid-90s. Basically this was a Techno Animal side project, which released one LP, and a 12" EP on Justin's Lo Fibre label. Another track later surfaced on a compilation.

What we got here is distorted bleeps and bloops, droning beats and whipping synths. It should be no surprise that the "genre mafia" dubbed this as "industrial IDM" .. luckily we don't play along in their game of genres and tags, right?

Download part 1
Download part 2
(95+62MB/320CBR)

Curse Of The Golden Vampire - Mass Destruction (2003)

The first album had a much more peaceful approach than this abomination .. this is like an amphetamine rush you can't freak out to. Instead you have to sit still, behave, look out the window, tap that foot nervously .. hope you won't get arrested .. bite your fingernails and sweat like a dog .. very distressing isn't it? This is "love it or hate it"-material. Released on Ipecac Records. Enjoy!

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(81MB/320CBR)

Curse Of The Golden Vampire - The Curse Of The Golden Vampire (1998)

A collaboration between Alec Empire and Techno Animal was released in 1998 as The Curse Of The Golden Vampire. The eponymous release was the only to feature Alec Empire, as its successor was recorded with only Kevin Martin and Justin. No other material was recorded and this project is now no more. Mindblowing harsh electronics, this baby comes highly recommended by yours truly!

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(81MB/192CBR)

Ice - Trapped in three dimensions (1999)

Another Morpheus 12"EP features two "Trapped in three dimensions" remixes. One by Dom&Roland; the other by Alec Empire. It's worth for the Alec Empire-tune alone, a calming "breakcore-El-P-amphetamine"-rap.

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(12MB/VBR V4)

Ice - Headwreck (1998)

12"EP released in November 1998 on Morpheus. Featuring four tracks, of which two are remixed by El-P and Scott Harding.

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(23MB/160CBR)

Ice - Bad blood transfusion (1998)

A limited UK only 12"EP which came out on Morpheus. The first two tracks, X-1, are two different remixes of the Ice version by Underdog. The third track, Trapped in 3 dimensions, is also remixed by Trevor Jackson, but this time under the moniker of Skull. The final track is the album version of X-1, the K-Mart LP mix. Enjoy!

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(50MB/VBR)