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116 & Rising

**Double gatefold digipak 24 track 2CD with artwork by Will Bankhead** Hessle Audio are surely the UK's finest forward-thinking dance label. Their ascent to the bassbin vanguard is cemented with '116 and Rising', a comprehensive double CD affair looking back over 12 of their finest moments from the last four years, and looking forward to 12 crucial exclusives from their deadly roster. Since 2007 their band of advanced sonic thinkers and bassbin assassins have produced a stream of achingly ON IT records, including no small amount of debuts and genre classics from figures who've come to massively influence the field. We can largely attribute their success to the seriously focussed yet broad tastes of the trio behind the imprint, namely David Kennedy (Pearson Sound/Ramadanman), Ben Thomson (Ben UFO) and Kevin McAuley (Pangaea), three clued-up youths with an unswerving passion for dance music from US House and Garage to the UK Bass culture they all came through with. The first disc of '116 & Rising' touches on some of the most crucial, considered and caned tracks of the last few years, from Joe's 'Rut' and 'Level Crossing' to James Blake's 'Buzzard & Kestrel' or Martyn's timeless remix of TRG's 'Broken Heart'. The 2nd disc is a sterling testament to their understanding of the scene, touching up-to-the-moment 116bpm subbass and Latin clap attacks from Joe at one extreme, and the deadly, archival post-grime futurism of D1's 'Sub Zero' at the other. For us, the most exciting tracks come from two of their most recent additions, with the nagging, sensual hook of Elgato's 'Music (Body Mix)' and the ruff 'n tumble programming of Blawan's 'Potchla Vee' already glued to our decks, but the very best come from relatively old hands; in the inimitable torque of Peverelist's infinitely sumptuous 'Sun Dance', and Pangaea's deeply rave-spiked 'Runout', while there's close runners from Pearson Sound's agitated 'Stifle' and the whisky-faced tuning of James Blake's 'Give A Man A Rod (2nd Version)'. Ultimately, it's a definitive document of the UK underground at the start of this decade and therefore a hugely recommended purchase for dancers, DJs and dance music connoisseurs alike.

CD Tracklisting:

CD1

1 Music (Body Mix)
2 Cool Story Bro
3 Potchla Vee
4 Stifle
5 Twice
6 Brunk
7 Runout
8 Bijoux
9 Sub Zero
10 Fuk Tha 101
11 Give A Man A Rod (2nd Version)
12 Sun Dance

CD2

1 You & I
2 Test Signal
3 Fram
4 Buzzard & Kestrel
5 I Can't Stop This Feeling
6 Rut
7 Blimey
8 Put You Down
9 Level Crossing
10 Why
11 Broken Heart (Martyn's DCM Remix)
12 Don't Change For Me