Alpha Rhythms

Wild Things are a feral bunch. From the depths of the London underground scene (that’s parties by the way, as opposed to Oyster cards and mind the gap) has over the course of three compilations gradually emerged a force to be reckoned with.

Realitygrid open up with two tracks – Twisted Reality and Feedback Therapy – which have a cracking sound and are bustling with energy, but which are more or less indistinguishable from each other. The basslines are too similar, the sounds too similar, the movement too similar; Feedback Therapy just about has the upper hand, though I can’t quite explain why. Avalon’s Stars is where things properly start to get interesting. The overall sound is fantastic – hefty, bustling,but not too dark, not too menacing, not too over the top. The inclusion of some bends in the lead line, some sort-of-cowbell, and this neverending swirling backdrop make it a bit of a special little track. DJ Beardy and Nix Corrective pull a blinder with Alpha Wave Rhythms, a swirling mass of genuinely psychedelic trance that picks you up, throws you around, and laughs at you while you search for your car keys; just like psytrance used to be, in short.

Error Corrective’s own Drugability is another neat one. The sheer array of sounds coming at you here is amazing: you’re never quite sure what to expect, which is just as well: sheer undiluted psychedelic energy which, for me, is the key tune on this album to capture what Wild Things is all about. It would also beat Astrix in a fight in a car park round the back of a pub; but that’s another story. Hoodwink’s Monomaniac is another cracker, the vibe here is more in keeping with the whole darkpsy sound, but with one important difference: it’s exciting. From the get-go, the energy is right there, poised and taut like an early Porsche 911, and it doesn’t disappoint. Prismism, by the same artist, has a more experimental feel and some interesting sounds, but it doesn’t have that same energy.

And then we have EVP, with two tracks. Hippy Bullshit (an extra mark for the name) is pimped, up-for-it fullon – the sort of thing you might get if you mixed a drop of Green Nun, a squeeze of Cosmosis, and a sprinkle of Parasense into a vat of crystal LSD.And the finale is great: it seriously sounds like your hair is falling out.  Meanwhile Illogical Process has more in keeping with the material on his artist album; some cracking sounds, but just too many of them. Finally, Psymmetrix’s Universal is a frantic, fast-paced stormer with more front than Brighton and more madness than that episode of The Young Ones where they have a massive fight in the street.

In short then, Alpha Rhythms is an admirable compilation that’s true and authentic to its underground roots. London is ‘avin it again.