AL WOOTTON Vinyl & CDs

Review: Charitable acts carry more significance than ever right now, and Needs are on hand with another instalment in their brilliantly curated series to give something to those in need while also presenting some wonderful, exclusive music. This one leads in with a truly uplifting blast of sunshine from Telephones before dropping into the edgy, swinging tech-funk of Ciel's "Faye Wong Plays The Strings". Al Wootton is on point with another of his fresh and dynamic twists on the soundsystem blueprint, with a dubby, percussive vibe that should appeal to those who miss proper dubstep. Eliphino completes the set with a squashed and feverish garage thumper that sounds like it has an iconic vocalist chopped up somewhere in the signal chain.

Review: The man occasionally known as Deadboy returns to Trule with more far-out garage subversions in the form of 'Callers Spring'. Sitting somewhere between techno, dub, UKG and deconstructed jungle, the title track sets the scene with its well-oiled, slippery beats and rising sub pressure. It's backed up by the brilliant 23rd century jazz of 'Grounding', the Isolee-meets-Carl Craig style spirals and sense of space on 'Saraph' before 'Doxa' closes the EP with a sparse minimal adieu that sits somewhere between Basic Channel and Zed Bias. Spring when you're winning.

Review: Al Wootton fuses bass and techno better than almost anyone in the game right now. He is a core part of the likes of Livity Sound and ZamZam Sounds as well as heading up his own well respected Trule label. It's there he returns to now with four more precise and devastating cuts of infectious and futuristic body music. 'Rope Walk' glides on airy drum patterns and heady synths that rise and fall then 'Temple Ball' mixes scuffed up kicks and twisted blurts of modulated synth sound with complex melodies that melt theming. Brain and body are again perfectly catered for on the flip with the gurgling bass of 'Artefacts' and wet and watery synths of 'Russell' both taking you deep into a techno mind maze.