808 State - Prebuild

Vintage rarities from UK acid house legends

[Rephlex] There was a time when the squelches and bass-lines of acid house were the opposite of cool. Today, the sound of Manchester-byway-of-Chicago is anywhere you want to hear it, from the opening of Jadakiss' “Why?” to the ever-present buzz of New York's producers-du-lour DFA. In the late 1980s, Gerald Simpson, Graham Massey and Martin Price stumbled upon the distinctive sound of the Roland 808 while trying to finesse the ground between hip-hop and electro. Almost by accident – and by divine intervention of the TB-303 – 808 State helped forge a new and more human approach to house. A play on the title of their 1988 debut. Newbuild, this collection of live recordings, demos (“Clone-zone”) and outtakes from the year before reveals a trio finding its footing. Check the aerobic crunch and gently rising blips of “Ride” or the haunting “Automatic” for true machine soul. The collection sounds as fresh today as it would have 17 years ago, as proven by the startling and occasionally bizarre 14-minute live jam “Thermo Kings.”

Hua Hsu