As dubstep thrashes around in a tepid pool of its own pop piss before finally going under, the hip hunter looks to a post-something world for renewed hope. Production styles begin to stretch and warp as fresh-faced rhythm fanciers go in search of their next sonic supplement. So, quick everyone, back on the trusty techno/house/whatever band wagon, “move to Berlin” and gobble some Heatsick. If you take a peek inside the envelope that Mike Paradinas of Planet Mu has been pushing around the past couple of years, you begin to see the next changer breaking on the horizon.
Bang & Works 2 is the label’s second Footwork/Juke comp to ride a messy 160bpm tsunami of “raw primal energy”. Look at it as a more nimble version of its big bro’, ghetto house. This music finds purpose in a bastardised jazz-hop on crack, getting feet shifting at baffling speeds. As the sound swells from its Chi-town epicentre, it configures an incomprehensible swathe of claps, slaps and sample spats, many stolen from dusted-down soul 12”s and retro computer zap. It feels vibrant and exciting; in these clotted times that’s something to shout melons about.
