XLR8R

Like Kompakt's Total series, Background's Futuristic Experiments installments always pair svelte microhouse with a healthy amount of playful experimentation. The 11 artists featured here, among them Ben Nevile, B., Si-Cut.Db and label proprietor Andy Vaz, make for the series' finest hour yet. Akufen's "Red Skies" eschews his trademark cut-ups for a sub-aquatic French shuffle-house workout. Sutekh's stuttering "Keep Away" is paradoxically inviting, and Portable's "A Loop of Mass & Energy" loses the beat in favor of sub-bass ambient dub. Excellent.