various / mary anne hobbs

Presents: Wild Angels

The first lady of the scene follows up her impeccably selected installations for Planet Mu with a new set for 2009, scouring the most essential niches of dubstep and future gazing hiphop electronics to save us all the trouble. Her packed DJ schedule and ever-relevant Radio 1 show place her in a particularly enviable position, meaning that the good stuff is almost always guaranteed to grace her ears first. The tracklisting for 'Wild Angels' impressively collates an entirely new selection of artists to the previous album, including some old but reliable hands (Mark Pritchard), next to the barely-out-of-nappies skool of Rustie, Floating Points and Hudson Mohawke. It's Pritchard's scene setter '?' that starts the show, cheekily lifting Mala's set opener for her own use, but also serving the purpose of being the only CD copy available for ownership. Brackles' outstanding 'LHC' gets the set flowing with his bristling garage-tronics, leading into Gemmy's exclusive, the hyper-funked stepper 'Rainbow Rd', and Untold's carnival-tech riddim 'Discipline'. Hiphop highights come from Paul White on his spectacular dub of Tranquil's 'Payroll', Rustie's seminal 'ZigZag' and Mono/Poly's 'Red & Yellow Tops'. Pure anthem business comes from Starkey's quarters on the lazer shaped 'Gutter Music VIP', and a must-hear exclusive from Floating Points on 'Esthian III', further proving why this guy is one to keep a very close eye on. As a document of the here-and-now of leftside dancefloor goods in 2009 you'd struggle to find a better collection. Big up MAH!