- The stealthy groovers on Cong Burn's debut 12-inch called to mind the meandyou. and Workshop axis of deeper-than-deep dance music. The label's second compilation positions its favoured narcotised moods in a slightly different context. The tone is darker—though you get the sense that these guys are friendly deep down—and linear grooves have given way to rolling syncopations. The results are strong, particularly on A-side cuts from Leeds' BFTT and Manchester's Lack, who shared a cassette on the label last summer. Both tracks twist the rolling soundsystem techno of, say, Livity Sound into something twilit and elusive. On BFTT's excellent "Public/Private," layered synth pulses are punctured by sharp percussion. It's all tension and buildup—the perfect opener—until breakdown chords float past like gossamer. Lack's "Absent" is almost as satisfying, contrasting watery chord swells with a crisp thread of piccolo claps and snares.
The intensity ebbs on the B-side. Chekov's ghostly "Celeste" stretches a tensile UK groove across yawning chasms of reverberant space. An untitled cut from the label cofounder Howes calls back to the fluffier moods of Cong Burn 01. With its deep house ornaments—a sleek modal pad here, an echoing dub chord there—his is the only track that sounds a touch generic. Given the relatively low profile of these producers, the flair on display is impressive.
TracklistA1 BFTT - Public/Private
A2 Lack - Absent
B1 Chekov - Celeste
B2 Howes - Untitled