ServeEm2wice

Last year’s Get The Lead Out showed that PsyBooty are a label whose mission statement actually adds up to something. The crossage-overage of the best elements of house, psytrance and progressive captured the global zeitgeist like a paparazzi photographer might capture Charles and Camilla going at it up the backdoor in a hammock in the grounds of Sandringham. No need to thank me for that delightful image.

Equisol opens proceedings with the cruisy and floaty Mokoko, with plenty of clear-as-a-bell highend that keeps it tied nicely to the clouds before the bassline takes a turn downwards in pitch, giving an eerie, almost foreboding feel. The quite wonderful M-Field take things a shade deeper with Grokwave, which sees some more edgy, menacing sounds coming into the mix. Electro-friendly topends mould with a throbbing bassline, bubbling over to make a final run that’s very special indeed.

Next up is Behind Blue Eyes’ Rumble In The Jungle, remixed by Vacuum Stalkers. The original BBE album I found a little too simple to be really engaging enough, but this adds what I was looking for, and then some. Sounding quite literally like it was stalked in a vacuum, the midsection sees so much energy being released that it ought to come with a health warning from the government; and from then on, it’s a sit-back-and-marvel psychedelic journey that summits into one of the tastiest bits of prog I have ever heard.

Deeper again with Etienne’s This Moment In Time, more stripped-down than the conventional PsyBooty fayre, but fret not as prophei’s sickly fantastic picks up the funk, the ass-shake, and the psychedelia all in one glitchy swoop. Up next, Prosect’s In Styled is one of the standout tracks here. Phased, philtered pornodisco with a groove that’s catchy, infectious, and downright loveable. Very good work indeed from one of the scene’s most exciting producers at the moment.  That closing acidic run ought to be enough to set the whole place jumping.

Duca’s Positiva is a right old dark horse – there’s no conventional break/drop/gurn moment: all it is, is quality tech-house with added lysergic tweakery, so casual and nonchalant that you just know it doesn’t really give a monkey’s whether you’re hanging onto its tails or not. Pure understated bliss. M-Field’s Focus is a more percussive, bombastic affair with a solid bottomend, peppered with cutely psychedelic topends. Great stuff from these guys, and I’m looking forward to much more. Finally, Sound Field’s Passion Session is an epic closer if ever there was one. From the outset you’re drawn right into the sounds, right into the manipulation, right into the vibe. Pitched somewhere between a Balearic beach and Nick Doof’s wet dream, the escalation here has to be heard to be believed.

And there we have it. If Get The Lead Out was the thundering “boom! here we are!!” release, Serve ‘Em… is the more understated, “let’s sit down and get to know each other” package. The quality once again is high, the artwork is bloomin’ marvellous, and there’s enough musical depth and variation here to keep you coming back for more. Jolly good work.