Dirtcrew - Presents Collection 01

With the best music, image counts for very little. The kind of transcendental minimalism that whispers to unknown recesses of your brain, and electrocutes your spine, is usually made by a guy looking like an accountant. That geeky kid you knew at school for his thick glasses and habit of arranging his packed lunch alphabetically makes the nastiest upside-yer-head overdriven gabba in existence. This showcase for Dirt Crew and their sister label Players Paradise includes names like Tigerskin, Mash and Thugfucker, but despite the hard-as-nails gangsta image, it sounds like techno for accountant yuppies. There are exceptions; Tigerskin's 'Am Waldrand', on display for the first time here, works around a stabbing dubby bassline and hints at great possibilities, whilst Martinez's contribution to the Players Paradise CD is 'Solar Beams', a quality cut of funky, disco-influenced house, if that's your bottle of overpriced lager. [Liam Arnold]