- Peak-time techno from an "unknown artist" on Dax J's label.
- Vanquished is a new anonymous artist on Dax J's Monnom Black label. I'll leave it up to you to decide who it might be, but M. Bison, the project's Street Fighter II-themed first release, is as playful and potent as any of the UK producer's own recent techno. From the mug of villain M. Bison pasted on the centre label to the video game samples that kick off each of these three cuts, there's a sense of humor here, an almost destructive glee.
The title track starts off as barreling broken techno with not one but two frantic acid leads, before breaking down into euphoric piano vamp then breaking everything back together into one glorious mess. It's busy, sure, but "M. Bison" is infectiously happy, almost like an update of the pasted-on smile of early '90s happy hardcore before the genre became straight-up belligerent.
If we're going to ascribe the characters' qualities to the tracks here, then "Chun-Li" is appropriately athletic—a rippling, muscular groove that offsets its gung-ho heaviness with an addictive swing—while "Blanka" (a green-skinned mutant) has all the makings of a sci-fi thriller, starting out with eerie strings before a vintage rave hoover bursts through the surface of the track. "Blanka" goes straight-up haywire, but like the other two tracks here, it always feels lighthearted instead of aggressive. Whoever Vanquished might be, I'd like to hear more from them.
Tracklist01. M. Bison
02. Chun-Li
03. Blanka