Bleep

CPU celebrate hitting their 50th release with two rebuilds of archival bleep 'n' bass killers from the widely unknown Sheffield group Detromental. Move and Rewind were originally released on the groups own short-lived white-label imprint Rave back in 1991, yet here they are presented as fully rebuilt and freshly armoured new versions, primed for a 2017 audience with a knowledge of the past and a first for the future.

Legend has it that Detromental were almost signed to Warp back in the day, but the deal fell through for reasons no one can quite remember. Fittingly Sheffield's premier export of all things bleep, bass 'n' techno, CPU have hit their 50th release with the brain wave idea to reissue/rebuild these underground classics for a new generation.

While the masses will be familiar with the outer reaching rhythmical realities of the classic plates from Forgemasters, LFO, Sweet Exorcist, Tuff Little Unit and Nightmares On Wax, the Northern based scene that launched Detromental was also hosting a wealth of producers making quickfire white labels that inspired the legendary purple sleeved sounds of the signature bleep 'n' bass 12"s. Records that were, in fact, most probably sold within the original Warp Records shop in Sheffield and still to this day demand crazy money on the collectors hand market. Groups like Unique 3 with the ice cold come down chill of The Theme, Ability II with the aquatic lego block Pressure Dub (also recently back in print and doing the circuit via Major Problems), the proto Altern-8 techno unit Nexus 21 and Juno with the (second after either of these) best tune never released on Warp - Soul Thunder.

Having spent an age attempting to dig out the original DAT tapes for 'Move' and 'Rewind', when Dean from the group deemed them to be lost forever, CPU got together with him to recreate newly formed versions, as CPU explain: "I have been asking Dean for the DAT tapes for these tracks to release them on CPU but alas he can't find them. So I have been working with him to re-build the tracks and new versions will be released on CPU". The label continues "Dean was sceptical at first as techno cover versions rarely work, but CPU's keen eye for detail saw faithful reproductions using many of the synthesizers used to make the originals". With these freshly sculpted versions, CPU is making sure that Detromental takes their rightful place as kings of the proto-jungle sound.

Move (Rebuilt) is a peak time weapon, its anthemic strings and casio tone notes perfectly adding just the lightest touch of melancholy before the thumping low-end kicks in, and the track catapults us right back to those heady days spent lost within a sea of beats, bleeps 'n' bass. While Rewind (Rebuilt) starts with the same spine tingling notes and thudding bassline before launching itself into a straight head march, spider web like shapes are built out of futuristic techno tools before you're very ears, breaking out into the best homage to the Leeds warehouse sound you could ever dream of.

Heavily distilled through a filter of Kraftwerk, Pierre, Transmat, UR, Hard Wax, 808, 909 and 303. This isn't the sound of Chicago, Detroit, New York, London or Manchester. This is the sound of Detromental, the sound of CPU and above all else these tracks are the sound of Sheffield.