Metalheadz

Platinum Breakz (London)
by Joshua Brown

The ecstatic thrust of subsonic basslines and unbridled breakbeats in drum ‘n’ bass has deepened and invigorated a variety of otherwise traditional musical themes, such as jazz, soul, pop, and hip hop.
Judged against just about any music released prior to the early nineties, Metalheadz Platinum Breakz sounds enticingly new and different. Judged against each other, however, the tunes that make up this double-length jungle compilation are fairly formulaic. It’s quite evident from the formula that these are all tunes originally released on twelve-inch singles, as the music is structured with DJ mixability in mind. Platinum Breakz is Metalheadz label owner and drum ‘n’ bass kingpin Goldie’s answer to last years Logical Progression double-length jungle comp., which was a collection of tracks from LTJ Bukem’s Good Looking and Looking Good labels. British breakbeat artists Photek and Peshay are featured on both of them, exhibiting their frantic but streamlined ambient fortitude for LTJ’s label and their love for razor sharp beats and dizzying breaks for Goldie’s. Overly repetitive moments on Metalheadz, like Doc Scott’s corny attempt at spirituality on “Far Away” or Refige Kru’s (a.k.a. Goldie’s) boring obsessiveness on “V.I.P. Rider’s Ghost,” are easily forgotten once you hear Doc Scott’s remixing of the same Refige Kru tune into an aural sea of raging calm, or “Your Sound” by Photek, whose beats seem to have a mischievous mind of their own.