Exorcise the Demons
Finally, a drum & bass album that doesn't wrap itself in the guise of a concept record. Instead, Source Direct (actually two lads from St. Albans, England, Jim Baker and Phil Aslett) fill their debut long-player with brutal, jarring beats, intersected by off-kilter rhythms wrought with fire and fury. LikePhotek(who heads their U.K. label, Science), Source Direct play with the beats and bass, stray from the simple two-step format so popular on dance floors, and summon the drum pattern in a frenetic start-and-stop manner. At times, the structure can be deceptively simple--"Mind Weaver" is stripped bare to drum and bass, before the producers bastardize the track with off-key filters and highs that stab at the song's melody. It sounds, like the title says, as if someone's exorcising the demons.--Tricia Romano