"The switch thrown as raw lightning arcs down the line; violent, consuming the cold form upon the table… I saw the dull yellow eye of the creature open; it breathed hard, and a convulsive motion agitated its limbs..." – Dieselboy, 2006
Roaring dragons come to mind here, and after exploring the latest product from the mind of Dieselboy, flame-throwing beats and roaring bass sounds good to me! All this from the true pioneer of American Drum & Bass!!
Qhat's really cool about Dieselboy (besides his remarkable poetry, of course!) is his simultaneous connection to American musical roots and his growing International prowess. He started in Philly/USA working in the midst of a scene which has always been centered in England, leaving Americans to become onlookers - importing records and playing only at times with "mixed" results. And in comes our hero – the dragon slayer – Damian Higgins, who reversed the trend a bit with his nation-trotting events and frequent mix albums released as Dieselboy.
Straight from the PA of the USA, Dieselboy took Philly's lessons and in 1993, as the sound of jungle had begun pumping up America as well as Britain, he made the switch to drum'n'bass, and has continued to bring his fans along the journey with him.
Even though I am not the biggest aficionado of Drum & Bass – though I love its roots in Jungle and its cousin Breaks – there is something sincere and catchy about Dieselboy's work in particular. I remember getting a phone call requesting Dieselboy during one of my shows, and the amount of passion and dedication that the fan had toward him was very profound and much more specific than a typical request.
In this release, I experience an onslaught of different emotions associated with music. First and foremost, what lies before us on this treacherous landscape is a manic journey of beat-desperation; hot and parched as we are, Dieselboy fuels our fire with frenetic & blazing trails of sonic disturbance. When I began to sulk from the beast of repetition I took account of my own head-bobbing visage and determined that I was just delving deeper… My absolute favorite 5-star rated tracks include BT's "The Great Escape" – a luscious, feminine d'n'b recount of this former trance anthem (CD 2), and a track by Kaos + Karl K + Jae Kennedy called "Studio 54" (CD 1).
It is noteworthy that on Disc One the tracks are not segued together in the usual mixed style… but we have some of the finest material from the "SELECTED WORKS," the first CD compilation from Dieselboy's powerful drum & bass label, HUMAN. Disc Two "EVOL INTENT ASSEMBLE THE MONSTER" features a continuous DJ mix from one of America's top d'n'b DJ/producer crews, Evol Intent, hand-picked by Dieselboy to stitch together some of the best of the HUMAN catalog, plus exclusive tracks and remixes. Significantly, these dragon eggs take a while to hatch – and you shouldn't rush the process. Dieselboy started this project in 2002, and it is now coming to fruition… flames, scale-crackled shells, dragon breath, and all…
