Bleep

The second drop from Japanese label Ryoko is even more enigmatic than their first - while Ryoko’s first hand-stamped vinyl told listeners that it came from the workhouse of techno veteran J.S.Zeiter, Ryoko 02 withholds even the name of the artist behind these tracks.

A cloak of mystery certainly suits Ryoko 02, what with it offering up a pair of scuzzy club adventures from the dancefloor’s experimental fringe. Mind you, A-side joint ‘140 Break’ is at least upfront in its title - what we have here is, indeed, a breakbeat jam which runs at 140 bpm, the distorted clatter of drums and a buzzing bassline propelling the track ever-onwards. It’s a cut which channels the scuffed-up low-end sound of the early 2000s, a style born when the darker strains of two-step, breakbeat and electro began to join forces but before they had fully morphed into grime and sublow.

On the flip, ‘Old Buzz’ comes off like ‘140 Break’s skittering, more industrialised cousin. The drums are cut and spliced here in a manner which recalls the breakcore stylings of Planet Mu’s early years, though the adherence to sub-bass principles means that ‘Old Buzz’ has a distinct whiff of junglism about it.

An unknown artist delivers skippy breakbeats, humming bass licks and leftfield junglism on the second release from Japan’s Ryoko label.