ROY OF THE RAVERS Vinyl & CDs

Review: Six years have now passed since cuts from Roy of the Ravers' brilliant '2 Late 4 Love' cassette made their debut on vinyl, via a highly limited EP that's now fiendishly hard to find. This '2023 Edition' of the in-demand EP offers two tracks from that 12" - pleasingly lo-fi acid jack-track '2 Late For Love (Part 1)' and the fuzzy, machine-driven deep house-goes-acid minimalism of 'Emotium' - plus a pair of favourites featured on the cassette version but not the previous vinyl release (the brain-melting acid electro jam 'Cwejman Acid (Part 2)' and the hissing, distorted TB-303 and TR-909 weight of 'Melchester Acid (Part 1)'. Throw in a bonus cut recorded in the same period ('Track 5') and you have an indispensable reissue.

Review: Roy Of The Ravers takes a break from his mischievious outings on Acid Waxa et al to lay down some of his braindance tackle on Emotional Response. White Line Sunrise II.I (Le Roy Soleil) can rightly be considered a follow-up to White Line Sunrise II and indeed it represents a similar kind of spectrum of electronica. Roy's sound is edging further into the kind of 'artist' territory where slower, softer tracks, odd vocal diversions and some pop sensibilities merge with the acid, electro, breakbeat and other well-established tropes of his sound. It's the kind of record which could easily broach this quirky fringe operator of UK electronics to a broader fan base, and there's no doubt he's got the melodic, emotional heft on tracks like 'Versace 101624' to get everyone on board.

Review: Roy Of The Ravers may be best known for his lysergic rave pelters, but there's always been a hint of grandiose melancholy in his synth work that suggested there was more to the machine botherer than tear-out acid beats. Emotional Response worked with the artist in trawling through a vast archive of material recorded between 1997 and 2017, rescued from hard drives once thought lost, and now gathered as a compelling ambient release with the full fat hardware veneer of Roy's work to date, but coming from a more reflective angle. From cathedral-quaking drones to deeply submerged aquatic excursions, this album has plenty to draw you into the inner world of an acid hero.

Review: The 27th split of the Acid Avengers series is dedicated to the homeland of acid music - well, the unofficial one - the United Kingdom. On my right, cult acid producer Roy of the Ravers, with some melancholic braindance and raw techno emanating from his tormented acid jams. On my left, 707-addict Jerry LaFlim, with two disturbed tunes mixing funky electronica, dark breakbeat and groovy electro. From Melchester to Brighton, four heavy tracks for the 303 trainspotters!