Soundmurderer and SK-1
Rewind Records EPSoundmurderer and partner in Crime SK-1 lay down some ragga-jungle-hardcore on this collection which puts most UK producers to shame. These two American junglists (are they an even more crazed breed across the pond?) revisit the mid 90s ragga jungle sound with an enthusiasm and a militant sensibility which makes it seem brand new again. While they occasionally veer off into slightly samey tech step and hardcore, the best moments on this collection of extremely hard to find 12”s see ragga and dancehall vocals mashed up with classic basslines (Sleng Teng pops up several times) and inventive, tightly programmed breakbeats. In what’s probably my favourite tune – Badsound – the pair even find a place for the bassline from the eek-a-mouse Wa-Do-Dem rhythm amongst frantic jungle and exclamations of 'Oh God'.
This compilation combines head-frying rhythmic intensity with an obvious appreciation of waist-winding ragga-dancehall. Several Rephlex artists – Amen Andrews, DJ Scud, The Bug – seem to be mining this particular seam right about now, reviving a ragga jungle vibe which should never have gone out of fashion. The yardcore style is also flourishing down in Bristol at the moment (mainly thanks to P.R.A.N.K. sound system), which is, like London, a centre of Jamaican music as well as ear-bleeding drill and bass. It's a pretty unlikely sounding hybrid but you can't fail to admire its genre-mutating irreverence and it creates scenes of frenzy on the dancefloor amongst ragga and hardcore fans alike.
If the stateside influence is noticeable on this release, it's in the hip hop style cutting and pasting between so many different beats and basslines, as well as in the odd bits of American rapping and samples ('Sound of the police', anyone?). Soundmurderer is based in Detroit and perhaps such a manic and original take on a distinctively British sound could only have come from as far away as Motor City. Influenced by the sound of both Kingston and London, produced in the USA and released in the UK, this is a truly outernational record and one which couldn't be more timely, given ragga's growing commercial popularity here and across the Atlantic. With a co-appearance with the mighty Bug lined up for Soundmurderer on the consistently cutting edge Peel Sessions on Radio 1 sometime soon, it looks like the Rephlex bad bwoys are taking over.
This compilation combines head-frying rhythmic intensity with an obvious appreciation of waist-winding ragga-dancehall. Several Rephlex artists – Amen Andrews, DJ Scud, The Bug – seem to be mining this particular seam right about now, reviving a ragga jungle vibe which should never have gone out of fashion. The yardcore style is also flourishing down in Bristol at the moment (mainly thanks to P.R.A.N.K. sound system), which is, like London, a centre of Jamaican music as well as ear-bleeding drill and bass. It's a pretty unlikely sounding hybrid but you can't fail to admire its genre-mutating irreverence and it creates scenes of frenzy on the dancefloor amongst ragga and hardcore fans alike.
If the stateside influence is noticeable on this release, it's in the hip hop style cutting and pasting between so many different beats and basslines, as well as in the odd bits of American rapping and samples ('Sound of the police', anyone?). Soundmurderer is based in Detroit and perhaps such a manic and original take on a distinctively British sound could only have come from as far away as Motor City. Influenced by the sound of both Kingston and London, produced in the USA and released in the UK, this is a truly outernational record and one which couldn't be more timely, given ragga's growing commercial popularity here and across the Atlantic. With a co-appearance with the mighty Bug lined up for Soundmurderer on the consistently cutting edge Peel Sessions on Radio 1 sometime soon, it looks like the Rephlex bad bwoys are taking over.
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