★★★☆☆
Deekline and Solo’s constant of putting the ass into bass is one long car chase up and down San Francisco-style slopes, revving through box-strewn alleyways and doing perfect figure of eight skids right in front of the camera. Get to the heart of the matter and the here and now of the rave first, without going on about it over and over like numerous EDM soothsayers; and, save for “Can’t Hide It,” get in and out at the double.
So, rapid firestarting for a 21-track double-pack with a taste of the familiar – Zhane’s “Hey DJ,” Dawn Penn’s “No No No,” Boris D’Lugosch’s “Hold Your Head up High” to name three sources. Dubstep, breaks, drum ‘n’ bass and the cooperation of all three at once makes the album disappointingly close-knit, going on to make the ragga-house option “Champion Number 1” a lonely cliché. However, driven by ragga rough riders joining up to kick the party up the backside (“Dancehall Tribute” is simple, skankable fun) and girly orchestrators of weekend hatchet jobs around handbags, every possible convention/back catalogue check, emphatically whacks the nail on the head. Despite rushing through, the pair barely leave a soundsystem skidmark in what’s a digitally-brushed typhoon speckled with cheese.
An album that gives itself every chance of spanking festival tents and stages while working the crossover vote (“Weekend Lover”). Unoriginal, yes — clean bassy fun, more so if you’re balanced on someone’s shoulders.
File under: Aquasky, Freefall Collective, Skool of Thought
