4 06 2017

From the final drum'n'bass pioneer to release a full-length, Roni Size's New Forms could well be the best. Though it's slightly bloated at two full discs, and slightly overhyped due to its winning Britain's Mercury Prize, New Forms was the major statement on drum'n'bass, barring only Goldie's Timeless. Size's prime asset is his unique style – tough, careening breakbeats and metallic time-stretched effects over the organic, elastic sounds of upright bass and other jazzy add-ons. He also has a knack for deft pacing; though many of his productions test the seven-minute mark, he plays around with the beats so much that no track ever grows boring. On the title track, he weaves two sets of female vocals – American rapper Bahamadia and resident Reprazent diva Onallee – into the mix, digitally syncopating Bahamadia's rap into the production with complete precision. The constantly retriggering breakbeat on "Matter of Fact" makes it another highlight, and Size's transition from the atmospheric "Heroes" to a raging breakbeat storm like "Share the Fall" (both are Onallee features) is astonishing. Yes, Size's production clout is much more apparent on the first disc than the second, but New Forms is laced with so much genius it's worth the price of two discs to own all the excellent productions inside. [A four-CD 20th Anniversary Edition of New Forms was released in 2017, featuring the remastered album plus B-sides on the first two discs; remixes from the likes of Photek, Grooverider, and Peter Kruder on the third disc; and a "live hardware mix" of the album on the fourth disc, featuring previously unreleased edits and remixes by artists including Grooverider, Source Direct, and Krust.]

Deepest View (Archive Volume 3) (2011). Following closely in the footsteps of their first two archival releases, Space Debris return with a third volume of live recordings and bits and pieces. Starting off in an unusually subdued mood, with moody acoustic piano, the 10-minute opening cut Mary-Joe-Anna nonetheless gets going eventually into another heavy jam from the band. The shorter Reprise of the Sun features some nice electric piano. Off course, throughout is the sterling organ work that is something of a signature sound for Space Debris, provided on some tracks by current keyboardist Winnie Rimbach-Sator and on others by former keyboardist Tom Kunkel. But let’s not forget the tight rhythm section of Peter Brettel (bass) and Christian Jäger (drums) and the endlessly creative guitar playing of Tommy Gorny…