- You have to be pretty confident to call your release ‘Underground Anthems’. If the music is in any way likely to be accused of being cheesy or boring, you’re going to look pretty stupid. Fortunately these guys don’t need to worry too much, particularly as Volume 1 was, no lie, a bit of an underground hit last year.
Johan Fotmeijer’s epic strings-driven ‘Back in the Days’ is the emotive, trancey one on this release, taking a bit of the same role as K Soul and Ra.H’s ‘Turning Point’ on Volume One. It’s lush and inflected with more than a touch of classical music. Therefore making it, er, rather classy.
Keith Worthy, who provided the most muscular and sexual track on Volume One, is a bit more laid back here. ‘DV8’ has a slightly Juan Atkins feel to it, with almost electro-y beats under calm and soothing strings. There’s a bit of a sting in the tail of this track though as it peaks at the same time that it ends, with new melodies and a touch of acid lifting the energy levels.
Finally Patrice Scott (who owns Sistrum, so it’s kind of weird that this release is on Aesthetic Audio) rounds out the EP with ‘Visions of Mantada’. This is the housiest track of the three with a distinctive one-note bassline and almost garage-y beats. The twisty melancholic melodies, however, are pure techno.
There are three solid tracks here, perhaps nothing as immediate as ‘Deep For Days’ on Volume One, but definitely a lot to chew over musically, with ‘Back in the Days’ probably being the most arresting of the three. Ultimately it’s definitely ‘underground’ and while it might miss out on ‘anthems’ status, this is still the kind of EP that could get played all year due to the quality and variety of the tracks.
TracklistA Patrice Scott - Visions Of Mantada
B1 Johan Fotmeijer - Back In The Days
B2 Keith Worthy - DV 8