It has already been fifteen years since Future Tech (aka Drumsound & Bassline Smith) signalled the beginning of the Technique Recordings odyssey with their debut collaboration. Since then, the drum and bass sound has spread its tendrils from the dark corners of the underground into the limelight of mainstream appreciation. And Technique has been at the forefront of that evolution all the way.
Label heads Drumsound & Bassline Smith take pole position, dropping straight into the drama of the Friction-supported “Spring Heel Jack”. Then comes another of Technique\’s most recognisable acts, Tantrum Desire with the low-down funk of “Shuffle”, followed by another Friction-favourite from the bossmen with “Sputnik”. The big names keep coming throughout the album, as Crissy Criss supplies the VIP of his monumental “Create the Future” and the mighty Digital goes dubbed-out with a remix of “Phantasm”. Plus Drumsound & Bassline Smith\’s alter-ego 2DB pass through with the highly-grimey “Terrahawk” and L Plus delivers two precision-engineered killers in the form of “Red Planet” and “Going Down”.
Flipping the script, Technique new boys Document One strike from two angles with the laid-back “Jazz Club” and the dirty dancefloor uppercut of “Body Like Wow”. TREi takes us to the big room with “Here & Now”, and the ever-individual MaxNRG shows off his ability to combine energy with melody on “Far Frontiers of Space”. Erb N Dub and Skope recruit Mr Dirty Smirks, MC SMK himself, to bring some typically hard bars to “Pull it Back”. Kronology does what it says on the tin with some “Razor Sharp” technoid-jungle vibes. And Aussie badman Spectrem brings some hands-in-the-air euphoria with “Say Goodbye” and then roughen things up with “The Future”. Infrasonik take the honour of completing the collection with “Bricks Breaking”. And finally, Drumsound & Bassline Smith step back up for a lap of honour with a mix of all the tracks from the LP.
Out now on Beatport.
Also check out: Tantrum Desire share their top DnB 10 tunes
