ARTWORK Vinyl & CDs

Review: First out in 2002, 'Red' marked a key pivot point for London producer, Big Apple Records tiller and later Rinse FM radio host Artwork. It drew a jagged line between his techno alias Grain and the UK garage sound he'd long championed; with its raw swing and instantly knowable, tuned 2-step rims, it managed to snared cult hit status over multiple scene; Bugz In The Attic most notably would so routinely roll it in sets that it would come to resemble a habitual zoot bun. Also oft cited as a proto-dubstep breakpoint, the title track's dropletty acid "woi" sound mimics a long cherished slang term commonly heard in the scene at the time. Then there's the dubplate shearing 'Rank', and we've also a formerly unreleased DAT cut, 'Relic' here: a rattling, percussive bonus that enshrines this edition as the version to end all versions. Its colour matching the title, 'Red' was always a bloody well done labour of love.