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96 Drum N Bass Classixxx by Bogdan Raczynski reviewed by pitchfork — 8.7/10 | Wavelength | Wavelength

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pitchfork

96 Drum N Bass Classixxx

96 Drum N Bass Classixxx

Bogdan Raczynski (2001)

8.7/ 10

If Bogdan Raczynski and LTJ Bukem went head to head in "Shinobi", who would kick the most ass? Does Dillinja have what it takes to dethrone the samurai math beatster as the ruler of "Ninja Gaiden"? And if they all broke out the Sega Master System while fiddling with their laptops, just what the hell would it sound like? Why, it would most likely sound like '96 Drum N Bass Classixxx, you silly thing. Or at least, that's the scenario Raczynski has in mind, judging from this twelve-track assault of freaked-out, 8-bit, Polish-cum-Japanese rip-ups.

Though described on his website as a collection of old-skool underground d'n'b rollers mixed by "DJ Bogdan Raczynski", what we really have here are twelve alter egos burying their teeth into said genre, mashing it between molars and bicuspids and spitting it all over the dance floor. It's a love-note from Raczynski to the likes of Omni Trio and the Metalheadz Krew, a fusing of the former's adrenalized drill-n-bass bounce with the latter's pioneering sound(s).

After a brief digression into the wispy, acoustic/electronic music sound so popular with critics five seconds ago, Raczynski has returned to the fertile stomping grounds of his more beat-heavy material, ranging from the ballistic ass-shaking of Thinking of You's "Unsatisfied Customer" to pre-Rephlex mashers like "30002389"-- caffeinated breaks and improbably deep bass tones that would send the balls of any raver right up into the secret pocket of their scratch-n-sniff UFOs. "Battle Zone 1996" alone is worth the price of admission to the party, its dark cut-ups and mighty bassline delivering on its promise to "put the girls in heat". Believe me, when that first bass tone rattles the window frame, there's gonna be a flood.

Elsewhere, Raczynski drops a bomb under the guise of Agent 30 with "5L45H! 4TT4CK! 3NT3R K3Y", which pits a fuzzed-out, descending arpeggio against bum-rushing snare rolls before breaking into music from some lost level of "Mega Man". And "D&D; Diabolical" covers similar territory, rocking some raga breaks and bringing back the philosophizing narrator from his first album, Boku Mo Warakan.

Classixxx is far from the serious affair that was 2000's My Love I Love, allowing Raczynski to hang loose and break new ground in a genre time forgot. Witness the liquid flow of "Governor's Banquet", the ease with which Amen breaks slide into mad drill-n-bass tempos before returning to their original, blunted course. This stuff is far too insane for your average jungle fan, to be sure-- any who dared to take a ride on a merry-go-round like "Pouch Fulla Seed (Hard on You RMX)" would find their ass face-down on the playground asphalt in seconds. But those into the scarier aspects of electronic weirdness, who like their music abstract with rampant unpredictability and personality, will be indiscriminately beat down by Bogdan's badassery.

If Bogdan Raczynski and LTJ Bukem went head to head in "Shinobi", who would kick the most ass? Does Dillinja have what it takes to dethrone the samurai math beatster as the ruler of "Ninja Gaiden"? And if they all broke out the Sega Master System while fiddling with their laptops, just what the hell would it sound like? Why, it would most likely sound like *'96 Drum N Bass Classixxx*, you silly thing. Or at least, that's the scenario Raczynski has in mind, judging from this twelve-track assault of freaked-out, 8-bit, Polish-cum-Japanese rip-ups. Though described on his website as a collection of old-skool underground d'n'b rollers mixed by "DJ Bogdan Raczynski", what we really have here are twelve alter egos burying their teeth into said genre, mashing it between molars and bicuspids and spitting it all over the dance floor. It's a love-note from Raczynski to the likes of Omni Trio and the Metalheadz Krew, a fusing of the former's adrenalized drill-n-bass bounce with the latter's pioneering sound(s). After a brief digression into the wispy, acoustic/electronic music sound so popular with critics five seconds ago, Raczynski has returned to the fertile stomping grounds of his more beat-heavy material, ranging from the ballistic ass-shaking of *Thinking of You*'s "Unsatisfied Customer" to pre-Rephlex mashers like "30002389"-- caffeinated breaks and improbably deep bass tones that would send the balls of any raver right up into the secret pocket of their scratch-n-sniff UFOs. "Battle Zone 1996" alone is worth the price of admission to the party, its dark cut-ups and mighty bassline delivering on its promise to "put the girls in heat". Believe me, when that first bass tone rattles the window frame, there's gonna be a flood. Elsewhere, Raczynski drops a bomb under the guise of Agent 30 with "5L45H! 4TT4CK! 3NT3R K3Y", which pits a fuzzed-out, descending arpeggio against bum-rushing snare rolls before breaking into music from some lost level of "Mega Man". And "D&D; Diabolical" covers similar territory, rocking some raga breaks and bringing back the philosophizing narrator from his first album, *Boku Mo Warakan*. *Classixxx* is far from the serious affair that was 2000's *My Love I Love*, allowing Raczynski to hang loose and break new ground in a genre time forgot. Witness the liquid flow of "Governor's Banquet", the ease with which Amen breaks slide into mad drill-n-bass tempos before returning to their original, blunted course. This stuff is far too insane for your average jungle fan, to be sure-- any who dared to take a ride on a merry-go-round like "Pouch Fulla Seed (Hard on You RMX)" would find their ass face-down on the playground asphalt in seconds. But those into the scarier aspects of electronic weirdness, who like their music abstract with rampant unpredictability and personality, will be indiscriminately beat down by Bogdan's badassery.