Reviews: DC Recordings presents Death Before Distemper
DC Recordings
It's slightly tricky when it comes to reviewing dance music. As a reviewer you have certain pitfalls. The music is lead by beats and melodies, not muso virtuosos and front-men. It is all too easy to fall into the trap of talking about the music in terms of present culture and fashion. So, when reviewing this rather lovable compilation album from DC Recordings, it's be all too easy to give the reader a patronising history lecture on how important the producers on this compilation are and how influential their sound is and how time has proven they were right all along.

Stuff that for music journalism. Let's ignore the zeitgeist and just strip it down to the essential facts. Fact number 1: this is music you can dance to. It has grooves and they are good grooves. Fact number 2: this is innovative music. The producers responsible may dance but not to the beat of conformity or trends. Fact number 3: this is really bloody good. Mental, mongoloid electronics meet dirty clockwork funk? Yes. Sordid rhythms with psychedelic electronics? Present and correct. All that is left for me now is to name a few of the guilty parties: Depth Charge, The Emperor Machine, White Light Circus, Padded Cell (Richard Sen & Neil Beatnik), Tom Tyler [under the name Vincent Markowski] and other gentlemen of ill-repute. "Absolutely chuffing smashing" - how's that for writing?

Scott @ Toast
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