MATISA Vinyl & CDs

Review: After first surfacing digitally late last year, Matisa's Steel City Dance Discs label debut finally makes it onto vinyl - and not a moment too soon. Hard to pigeonhole but fiendishly heavy and floor-friendly, the four cuts on offer are rave-igniting workouts that somehow manage to sound both nostalgic and genuinely fresh. For proof, check opener 'Brillatine', where a warped, all-action bassline, fizzing electronics, Orbital-style female vocal snippets, jumpy stabs and pots-and-pans percussion hits cluster around a skittish, warehouse-ready breakbeat. 'Eyeliner' is a slightly more rave-centric chunk of heady breakbeat hardcore revivalism with added M1 organ motifs (and a rap-less accompanying hip-house style tweak from label boss Mall Grab), while 'Lip Plumper' is a muscular, hands-aloft house workout with layered percussion aplenty.