V.A. Various IV

The fourth various artists compilation album on Netherlands based 030303 Records... Splitradix has been given the honour to kick off with a wonderfully meandering acid epos, reminiscent of 808 State's more obscure output, with a euphoric element entering about halfway. Zaphyd takes the energy level up a bit further with a strange dry beat driving the tune which is full of melodies trying to elbow each other to the side in the friendliest possible way... Side B opens with Star Flip by Holovr where a series of classic throbbing acid basslines are accompanied by an unsettling melody, not for the faint hearted! The Exaltics' What If We Could is a haunting bubbly motherfucker of an acid track, not totally unlike Polygon Window's Untitled, pure dark bliss... The C side then starts with a brilliantly bouncing contribution containing a beautiful melancholic theme by Piepiep, one of 030303's co-founders. Argentina's Nacho M Meyer is the mastermind behind Planeta, yet another dreamy cut full of Detroit-like melancholy. Zelfkant, the first contribution on the D side, is by Betonkust and feels like a classic Warp Artificial Intelligence armchair track with a touch of wave/electro. One of the best tracks on the comp then, is by Dirty Data, who delivers a track full of twisted breaks, hectic bleeps and eerie synths, mind blowing this one... Kramphaft is behind the final contribution to the compilation, again a sinister and dark one with haunting melodies spun out over unusual hard hitting electro breaks. All in all, very warmly recommended, this compilation full of bouncy and screwed up acid from the sewer!