Various Artists - Join The Future: UK Bleep & Bass 1988-91

The debut release from the Cease And Desist label, a new venture helmed by Optimo Music label boss JD Twitch, this compilation revisits the British ‘bleep & bass’ techno scene of the late 80s and early 90s. Hugely exciting at the time, bleep techno still exerts a great influence over the UK clubsphere, with labels like Central Processing Unit and FireScope still flying the flag for the scene.

This compilation returns to bleep’s roots, offering up crucial tracks from the sound’s heyday along with rare cuts and new material. Tracks have been selected by Matt Anniss, writer of the book Join The Future: Bleep Techno And The Birth Of British Bass Music that is being released in tandem with this compilation. Some of the names here are instantly recognisable - Nightmares on Wax for instance, who got his start in bleep & bass, or Cabaret Voltaire, the Legendary Sheffield industrial group who enthusiastically threw themselves into bleep as labels such as Warp grew the sound in the Steel City.

The other names are no less crucial in the bleep & bass story - Ital Rockers, who contributes the subby ‘Dreams’, would later become well-known for his work in Iration Steppas, while Leeds duo and Bassic Records founders DJ Martin and DJ Homes turn in a trippy flip of Man Machine’s ‘Animal’. Most excitingly of all, Join The Future - UK Bleep & Bass 1988-91 treats us to a couple of previously-unheard gems. Ravers may have been pulling shapes to Alfanso’s ‘Dub Feels Nice’ for decades now, but its inclusion here represents the track’s first official release. The compilation also closes out with a hitherto-unreleased instrumental mix of Tuff Little Unit’s 1991 Warp joint ‘Join The Future’. Mastered for release by Warp Records co-founder and Forgemasters member Rob Gordon, a producer, remixer and studio engineer who arguably did more than anyone else to define the sub-heavy sound of the style.

Gordon also contributed a previously unheard version of Alfanso’s “Dub Feels Nice”, a near mythical track he produced in 1991 that has never received a proper commercial release. The cut has been a secret weapon for a handful of Sheffield DJs for almost 30 years, most notably Gordon’s fellow Forgemasters member Winston Hazel.

Matt Aniss and JD Twitch come together for Join The Future - UK Bleep & Bass 1988-91, a vital chronicle of the UK’s vibrant ‘bleep & bass’ club sound.

Tracklist:

A1 Unique 3 & The Mad Musician - Only The Beginning
A2 Original Clique - Come To Papa
B1 Demonik - Labyrinthe
B2 Nexus 21 - Self Hypnosis (Mr Whippy Remix)
C1 Cabaret Voltaire - Easy Life (Jive Turkey Mix)
C2 Alfanso - Dub Feels Nice (Version 4)
C3 Ital Rockers - Dreams
D1 Man Machine - Animal (DJ Martin & DJ Holmes Primordial Jungle Mix)
D2 Nightmares On Wax - 21st Kong
D3 Tuff Little Unit - Join The Future (Original Instrumental Mix)