Footwork married with jungle—the combination of such similar genres (in both tempos and club-specific applications, not to mention current ubiquity) makes so much sense, it’s almost baffling that it wasn’t explored explicitly until recently. The collaboration of insatiable producer Machinedrum and fellow juke appropriator Om Unit also seems like a match made in bass-music heaven, as the former’s Room(s) LP from 2011 and the latter’s wax-worthy bootlegs dropped under his Phillp D. Kick moniker both make excellent use of the boom, smack, and skitter that define the aforementioned styles. Dream Continuum’s inaugural release, the three-track Reworkz EP, is a record that brings all of those star-crossed elements together, and, at times, nearly becomes something more than the byproduct of its converging influences.
As should be expected, subtlety has no place here; Reworkz deals almost exclusively in menacing breaks, guttural sub frequencies, and viciously hacked vocal samples, but that’s not to say there’s no range of softer sounds available. The deep pads and dayglo hooks on “Giv a Lil Luv”—which, incidentally, is a near replica of many cuts from Machinedrum’s most recent full-length—offer an aura of chilled-out vibes amongst the production’s frantic drum work, as do the warm synth melody and half-time rhythm that start off “Set It,” an otherwise furious tune built on relentless 808s and ravey organ stabs. Though most of Dream Continuum’s EP is based around the core of footwork and jungle music (160+ bpms, repetitious vocal blips, gritty bass, et al) and though these tunes could not exist without those tried-and-true sounds, it’s the rare moments when Machinedrum and Om Unit diverge from the obvious path in front of them that offer a peek into something more transcendent than 1 + 1 = 2.
