Brackles & Shortstuff feat. Terrible Shock – Good Foundation review

Celebrating a storming first year, the Blunted Robots crew release their fifth single, resplendent with their wicked trademark cover art, and more importantly with some of the freshest beats available on the planet. Following awesome tunes like “Citizens Dub”, Mickey Pearce’s “Innami” and Martin Kemp’s “No Charisma”, Kemp’s brother Brackles joins forces with Shortstuff and Nottingham mic-wielder Terrible Shock on “Good Foundation”.

Only 24 years old and already something of a UKF veteran, Brackles’ way with a beat is well known, but this collaboration really adds a flavour hitherto unheard before. With crazy repeated chords pile-driven into each other, the thin, off-beat style reminds heavily of the original 80s tape-edit kings, The Latin Rascals. The early 80s flavour is also added to with some crashing Linn drum fills, but this isn’t a kitsch/retro piece at all – the sequencing is hyper-modern and Terrible Shock’s MCing is treated with a phalanx of effects as verses turn into choruses. It’s infectious stuff – fidgety and soulful at the same time – and with an instrumental and acapella included, is bound to get rinsed pretty sharpish.

A true king of funky, Ten Thousand Yen boss Doc Daneeka gets involved on the remix front and delivers a nice contrast, smoothing things out a little and going for an almost exclusively percussion-filled mix, all of which lets the vocals shine through nicely and as always, DD’s kicks, snares and claps are peerlessly arranged.

Oliver Keens