Looking back on those significant mixes which fill you with renewed passion for music I realised a lot of the ones which have stirred for me that excitement and optimism in the past were produced by Pinch.

Appearances on Mary Anne Hobbs’ now legendary Breezeblock show; his February 2011 Resident Advisor podcast; 2012’s incredible Fabriclive 61; and the first b2b collaboration with Mumdance in 2013 – these all stand as testament to Pinch’s vision as a DJ (not to speak of his talents as a label head and producer).

When I discovered this music I quickly came to realise that when Pinch puts a mix out it’s probably a good idea to check what he is up to. As people associated with the early dubstep scene began experimenting widely with lower tempos and house and techno resurged in popularity, Pinch had been one of the first who had initially explored the relationship dubstep shared with techno through his mixes and productions and would continue to demonstrate his aptitude for innovation again and again.

Though the music we find on this CD (much of which Mumdance reports was finished especially for the mix) is far from a trite hybridisation of styles. Pinch revealed to xlr8r recently that he felt as though:

we’ve gone through 30 years of geniuses doing [house and techno]; you don’t need me jumping on the pile as well.

Mumdance also shared his feelings about the state of UK dance in Resident Advisor remarking that

the dance music climate in the UK is enjoying a healthy and extremely interesting transitional period; one which I would draw parallels to the 93/94 ‘proto’ era when people were literally making up the rules as they went along. This mix is an ode to that time and our attempt at throwing some ideas out there, with the hope of sparking some imaginations & pushing things further forward.

Expectations were set for something a little more than a presentation of the sound Pinch and Mumdance have cultivated with others recently, justifying a mix CD following 2013’s b2b prelude.

Now, if you’ve heard the Logos LP on Keysound. Or the slew of Mumdance releases we’ve seen over the last year – often in collaboration with Logos or Pinch – then you have some idea of what to expect. Though this is by far some of the most compelling material these guys have yet put together.

Doing away with learned rhythmic habits and moving through highly unconventional arrangements the tracks maintain a lot of energy and danceability. Beginning with the pale sun rays of Logos’ Savanna Overlord the mix picks up the pace quickly, often breaking apart at the rhythmic seams before reassembling itself, each tune placed and blended superbly. From the schizophrenic ode to an icon of socio-technological degeneration in Mumdance’s The Sprawl – to the paranoid psychedelia of Pinch & Mumdance’s Lucid Dreaming; the tracks on here are immense even by their own standards and there’s something to be excited about for even the most studied follower.

This music is stimulating, unplaceable, unformulaic, yet uncannily familiar as we encounter the disfigured ghosts of revered tropes from all across the history of the low-end spectrum: breakbeats, Reese, 4×4 variations, echoes of pirate radio chatter, and time honoured bass-weight. Though not afraid to work with its musical inheritance these tracks feel timely and powerful and are every moment a surge of freshness and creativity born of a very creative time. Whatever we eventually come to feel about the historic place of these sounds, and about the hope that they may spark imaginations, the virtue of a period such as now is that there is only one thing everyone’s concerned with: pushing creativity.

It is to the credit of Pinch and Mumdance, and all featured artists, that this mix exhibits some of the most inspiring stuff of recent times.

Buy

–
Logos – Savanna Overlord
Alex Coulton – Sinners
Pinch – Obsession (The Possession)
Pinch – Obsession (The Possession) (Shed remix)
Mumdance – The Sprawl
Pinch – Down
El-B – Buck & Bury (Ziro remix)
Nurve – Wrong Number
Mumdance – Doom
Mumdance & Logos – Legion (VIPinch Mix)
Pinch & Mumdance – Noctis
Asusu – Velez (A Made Up Sound remix 2)
Pinch & Mumdance – Whiplash
Mumdance & Logos – Bagleys (Reese Tool)
Pinch & Mumdance – Double Barreled Turbo Mitz
Mumdance & Logos – Move Your Body
Ipman – Ghostrunner
Pinch & Mumdance – Lucid Dreaming
Logos – No Skyline

– Jord Sublogos (Inorganic Audio)