Various: Mental Illness
By Mike Beggs
DATA:BASS are best known for bringing free drum 'n bass gigs to less exclusive downtown Auckland bars and pool halls. Beneath the commercial fashion parades of so much dance music an undergrowth flourished. Last year the collective sprouted Mental Illness, a weekly showcase for less d'n'b explorations in turntablism and electronica. This CD is a compilation of some such tracks. It breaks and spins a smooth path through a motley though solid 77 minutes. A blunted aura pervades it all - an impressively diverse leftfield collection spanning from downbeat and dub to breakbeat and twitchy warped electronics. Some highlights from the 21 tracks: General Practioner's The Dub of Dubya matches pensive strings with a slow-burning bassline. Oosterdaddy's Songs for Gingers Vol. 2 segues sombre accordion into a deeply twisted soundscape before breaking out suddenly into hip hop. In Gut Feeling Kyren backs an ozone-laden electric squall with a driving breakbeat. DATA:BASS is promising further 'Mental Illness' compilations, cheap and full of listenable experimentation.
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