- Cavernous bass tracks begging for a rewind.
- It probably didn't intend to, but the FYE series on Martyn's 3024 label has almost been a commentary on the current status of the hardcore continuum. You probably don't need me to tell you that back in the day, genres would rise up and take over the scene, before something new came along to replace them. (This video essay summarises the phenomenon in nine minutes.) More recently, though, this trend has basically ceased, most likely caused by the internet's dissemination of information and the subsequent fracturing of tastes and scenes. So what are we left with? On 3024 FYE4 we hear lo-fi garage, drum & bass, the London "hard drum" sound and modern electronic dub. In other words, different genres of the continuum being simultaneously explored, combined and revised.
It's also great to hear Martyn continue his run of form, both as a producer and a curator. "Frozen Bread Snaps" might be my least favourite of his contributions to the series so far, its timbre and plangent strings sounding a bit too Burial, but it's obvious he's currently drawing deep reserves of inspiration from UK garage. Noire's "Ballas" is a decent advert for the hard drum micro scene, which, after NKC's appearance on the previous FYE compilation, seems to be exciting Martyn. It's a rolling, late-night drum cut with filtered vocal phrasing that might evoke gqom or Afro house.
Aside from dub, at this point there's little point mentioning other genres in relation to Parris—he's doing something that he alone owns. On "Dusty Glass Bubbles" there is, once again, a cavernous sense of space and an atmosphere thicker than the thickest weed smoke. On the opposite end of the scale, "Door Of Guf" by Sin, Gremlinz & Jesta is the EP's undoubted banger. If it doesn't get rewound at a messy drum & bass party in the near future then something has gone seriously wrong.
Tracklist01. Martyn - Frozen Bread Snaps
02. Sin, Gremlinz & Jesta - Door Of Guf
03. Noire - Ballas
04. Parris - Dusty Glass Bubbles