V.A. Skull Disco - Soundboy Punishments (2007)

ARTIST`````Various
ALBUM`````Skull Disco - Soundboy Punishments
GENRE`````Dubstep / Electronic
YEAR````````2007

From Resident Advisor:
The most successful and yet experimental of dubstep’s first wave are those that have drifted furthest away from the grime roots of the genre. In terms of definitive albums, Burial’s eponymous debut is the shining light (or is that shining dark?) example of this, but it’s now joined by South London’s Skull Disco label compilation. Burial had the advantage of releasing an album in the purest sense of the word, but this release is only less classic because of what it is, a compilation, not because it lacks in quality or intensity. Between them, Shackleton and Appleblim (with a sole contribution by Gatekeeper) have filled two discs with tracks culled from their fledgling label’s six releases, topping it off with the inclusion of Ricardo Villalobos’ epic eighteen-minute minimal techno remix of ‘Blood on My Hands’. Shackleton opens proceedings, and the majority of tracks are simply dazzling throughout. His minimal drum pressures and ethnic atmospheres are completely convincing and never stop driving forward. It’s a sculptured, living jungle sound in the truest sense, conjuring up fierce fires and impenetrable shadows flickering in the pressing trees. Tracks like ‘Tin Foil Sky’ and the immortal ‘Blood on My Hands’ perfectly capture this mood, somehow wild and menacing, but deliberate also. Villalobos’s remix loses a little of the direct humid pressure of the original, but finds instead a slower, maddening hypnotism and an airiness that still works well. Appleblim has also honed the label’s signature minimal drum sound to perfection, but there’s less of an ethnic influence and more of an old school palette. The bass climb in ‘Mystical Warrior’, for example, is absolutely vicious and begs you to crank it up, while on other tracks he works more patiently to build brooding atmospheres. Apart from the quality of the individual tracks, the compilation has a fantastic flow to it, creating an intelligent, poised and sensual listening experience. Highly recommended, and to think they nearly shut their label down!

Tracklist:
CD 1
01. Shackleton – Hamas Rule
02. Appleblim – Girder
03. Shackleton – Tin Foil Sky
04. Appleblim - Mystical Warrior
05. Shackleton – I Am Animal
06. Appleblim – Fear
07. Shackleton – Majestic Visions
08. Shackleton – Naked
09. Gatekeeper – Tomb
10. Shackleton – Hypno Angel
11. Appleblim – Cheat I

CD 2
1 Shackleton – Blood On My Hands (Ricardo Villalobos Remix)
2 Shackleton – Stalker
3 Appleblim – Gold and Silver
4 Shackleton – I Want To Eat You
5 Shackleton – New Dawn
6 Shackleton – Massacre
7 Shackleton – Make Me Cry

RA review
Skull Disco Label

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