Retrospective 1 & 2

If only all retrospective/reissues were as good as this one. Timecode haven’t just released a “best of” covering their output, they’re had tracks reworked and remastered, the odd remix, and a handful of new tracks. It’s released as two separate albums – the first volume showcasing the harder Timecode sound, and the second catering for the more melodic, groovy side.

On the first release, Shift’s No More Humans gets a complete rework, and is utterly blistering. Phyx remixes Menog’s Nilzomania, another cracker that drops just the right amount of melody at just the right time. There are new tracks from Rabdom L and Twisted System, the latter’s Conversation being a serious peak time contender – perfect amounts of everything, and production that slaps you in the face.

The older tracks, where they’ve not been reworked, are a bit hit and miss. While Azax & Toxic’s Rain sounds every bit as delicious as it always did, Artifakt’s Instant Gratification sounds more dated, and doesn’t punch like it should. Lemurians’ Echoes Of Madness, which also sounds dated, gets round the flat production by being completely and utterly mental.

Onto Volume 2, and Artifakt’s new 5 Years is one of his best to date. It’s full of ideas, full of sounds, full of punch, full of goodness. The sound is psytrance-over-techno, it would sound cracking on a big system.

Of the remasters, Wizzy Noise’s Light Of Madness echoes back to a time before they were as shit as they are now, Shift & Slug’s Apocalypse Cow is a prime exhibit of exactly what this music should be about, and Tickets’ The Toy is still a whole heap of fun. A couple of Twisted System tracks get remixes: Hydraglyph’s take on Business Hippy is an utter belter, Tickets’ take on Daorithe is a tad too ravey.

I’ve got a lot of time for Timecode, and always have. As a label they’ve got a good, high-quality, clearly-defined sound and they’re faithful to it. Yet somehow these retrospectives don’t quite capture that. The remastered/remixed approach is a good one, and these are definitely recommended for fans of the genre.. but that little something is lacking to make these truly essential documents of one of our scene’s finest labels.