Hardly a week goes by without a new book about the formative years of British rave culture since the arrival of acid house on the island, and there is no shortage of compilations to match. Richard Sen already put together one for the Strut label in 2012 with »This Ain’t Chicago (The Underground Sound Of UK House & Acid 1987–1991)« and now ventures a little further into leftfield and a few years into the future. »Dream The Dream: UK Techno, House and Breakbeat 1990-1994« is released on the new Ransom Note sublabel Dance Music From Planet Earth and gathers ten tracks that deliver what the title promises. Although Richard Sen seems pleasantly unconcerned with putting together tunes with a three-digit Discogs median, he has dug a little deeper into the archives than most of his colleagues; many of the names behind these ten tracks have long faded. What is remarkable though is that—with the exception of Kirk Degiorgio’s project As One—all of them were collaborative projects. Quite a few of the members of these short-lived groups, such as Centuras with Darren Price of Junior Boy’s Own and Underworld, Mind Over Rhythm with the Hill brothers Alan C. and Dave or the supergroup Orr-Some, went on to make careers for themselves. Starting with the dubby, slo-mo Fourth World techno of Centuras’ »Tokyo,« through the rolling house tune with James Bond melody »Rave on the Congo« by Strontium 90, to the »Akira«-sampling smasher »Kubital Footstorm (Global Beatmix)« by Mind Over Rhythm and the droning bleeps of UVX’s wonderful closer, »Dream The Dream« nonetheless captures a wild and joyfully unprofessional spirit. It’s the sound of a few passionate freaks who got together with their peers in the studio and just went for it. No book can capture this kind of energy.
Jake Stephenson
Selected Works: 1995-1999
Transmigration