Steve Mills, Sterling Moss, Mobile Dogwash, Jack Wax – Braingravy 04 (Braingravy)

With its stellar line-up of Moss, Mills, Dogwash and Wax, Braingravy 4 always promised great things, and lo! Great things have come to pass.

Ride the Snake by Sterling Moss and Steve Mills leads off, and there is indeed something slithering about it – like a vast, mutated alligator feeding off luckless sewer workers beneath the city streets. Accordingly the track gets more and more corpulent, bottoms out to a cavernous, echo-strewn breakdown and then treats you to a delayed drop that, when it comes – when it eventually comes – tears off the back of your head. And that’s a good thing.

With a Parsnip is business as usual for Dogwash. i.e it rocks like a bastard. And how do they get those acid lines so damn filthy? After that, Burnout, from Jack Wax drops the old-school acid, 303 that couldn’t be more different from Dogwash if it tried. In terms of the EP it’s a brilliant change of pace, and hats off for that, while as far as the track itself goes, I’ve got one word: whoosh. It’s a builder, a grower. The kind of tune that like maggots festering beneath an aluminium cranial insert, will gradually burrow its way into your brain. And that, again, is a good thing.

Get it from: Juno Download

Hear it:

Jack Wax – Wax Is All (Flatlife Digital)

Wax Is All – Original Mix
The carnage kicks off with the original, a splendid tune from Eindhoven’s Jack Wax. And wow – someone’s been hiding their 303 genius under a Garry Bushell, because this totally rocks: the kick is chunky and clean, the 303s taught and sinewy, the melodies light and airy. I totally approve of the 142 BPM as well, which makes a nice change from the industry standard 145.

Wax Is All – Chris Liberator & Darc Marc Remix
Chris and Marc make good use of the ‘motherfucker’ sample – be rude not to, after all  – dial up the BPM to 148 and take a chisel to the acid sound. It’s a good day at the office for all concerned.

Wax Is All – D.A.V.E. the Drummer Remix
Suck my old brainpan, this is good. I mean, you’d expect it to be good from Dave, who in the last few years has been ringing the changes and producing his best work in the process, but this is quite something special. Lately he’s lowered the BPMs (but not completely deserted them, The Drums, anyone?) and in place of speed brought quality, and here it’s all in the bottom end, with a lovingly crafted kick so deep and cavernous it’s positively demonic, while shredding 303s take a blood-stained fire axe to the original. It rules, in other words.

Wax Is All – Sterling Moss Remix
Sterling’s mix is a cracker, just what you’d expect. Looser, funkier drums bring a tribal feel to the track – think the feel of his Streaker EP from last year – while busy riffs keep things skipping along. Being none too keen on either Riff Raff or Sick of Capitalism, which were his last two Acid tunes with Chris, I’m pleased to be loving a new tune with his name on it.

Wax Is All – Luke Creed Remix
Creed brings the madness, fiddling and treating every little sound like a crazy kid who glues the arms of dolls onto their foreheads.

Incidentally, here’s a Jack Wx mix on Soundcloud, Acid Techno classics, no less. We likey.