Vanguard Sound Vol 3 - Chris Mitchell/DJ Spider/Hakim Murphy / Amir Alexander [Vanguard Sound ]

There's some serious ruffness to this breakout four track compilation from the shadowy Vanguard Sound collective. The Detroit roots of the label shine through, not least on Amir Alexander's tough, haunting jacker "Violence". Militant samples and scuffed arpeggios scream Motor City from the off, much like the stripped sci-fi techno of Chris Mitchell. DJ Spider's "Tribal Mechanism" creates an industrial nightmare out of a rootsy percussion premise, and Hakim Murphy excels with a stalking slice of stripped down menace, capitalising on a broken kick pattern to deadly effect. For a taster of what else Detroit has in store besides the big names, this record shows a lot of promise.