No matter which way you look at it, the countries that once fell behind the iron curtain are making a huge impact on club culture in 2010. From Budapest to St Petersburg, parties are going off like its 1991, and unsurprisingly labels aren’t far behind.
A little while ago we brought you a review of the second release on Belgrade’s dubstep, bass-n-breaks label Svetlana Industries. To recap- think glitchy Zomby remix, shuffling Hektagon rework and eerie, tempo-switching sounds throughout.
Well our kind friends in Serbia have come up trumps again by bestowing on the educated, and soon to be educated public a free label sampler complete with distressing album artwork from Pull My Daisy; a clothes shop and design collective based in the country’s capital. All you need to do is go to the Svetlana shop, and download the tracks yourself. There’s also a streaming option, but we recommend owning this gapless beauty.
From the big room, drop you in the centre of an electric war zone opener that is Demokracy’s Starheaven to the warm, downtempo digital tuneup of 8Bitch‘s In The Moog For Love, if you’re thinking heavy basslines perpetually smacking you in the face like some nightmarish teenage tearaway is a bit much on a Wednesday, you’ll be pleasantly surprised. It’s as eclectic as anything you’re going to hear this month.
That said, there’s plenty of dark and sinister threats of violence too- check out Polyklinik’s Blurred Photographs for perhaps the finest example of out and out dread from the 19 tracks and interludes here. Menacing, at times confusing and with plenty of filtered crescendos dropping back into a heads down roller, the fact that Den Piece’s uplifting, stepping vocal workout Filtercutter follows best exemplifies what’s so compelling about this release. One minute your exposed to ear-bleeding breakbeats and mind numbing hooks, while your mind’s eye pans across a bassment filled with worse for wear 4am hedonists, the next your on some distorted Caribbean beach listening to some guy talking about SMS text messaging. What could be better?
