HUMANOID Vinyl & CDs

Review: Last year, Belgian imprint De:Tuned decided to commission a wealth of remixes of 'St8818r', Future Sound of London's 2019 re-make of their 1988 UK acid/techno fusion classic as Humanoid, 'Stakker Humanoid'. Kicking off with the peerless, breakbeat-driven, TB-303-riddled '88 original, this CD contains all nine commissioned reworks, plus a wealth of bonus material. There's plenty to excite those who love the intersection of acid, electro, techno, IDM and Rephlex-style 'braindance', with highlights including a murky and mind-bending Autechre rub, a storming, Phuture-inspired acid-jack interpretation from Mikey Dred, an impressively uncompromising breakbeat take from Plaid and a gorgeous, piano-sporting twist from Roel Funcken. Bonus cut 'Blue Beans', a psychedelic ambient acid excursion, is also superb.

Review: 30 years after ditching the Humanoid alias in order to form Future Sound Of London with Garry Cobain, Brian Dougans has decided to resurrect his rave-era solo project. The result is "Built By Humanoid", a delightfully skittish, off-kilter album of raw, ragged and mind-altering cuts whose wayward, out-there electronics were partially created using two custom-built synthesizers that Dougans co-designed. The resultant album is breathlessly brilliant and magnificently mind-mangling, with the veteran producer conjuring up cuts that giddily join the dots between Aphex Twin's most intense moments, the acid-fired "Braindance" of Ceephax Acid Crew, the doom-laden ambient and IDM oddness of Future Sound Of London and the sweaty breakbeat rush of early UK hardcore.