A.J. Sound – The Block E.P.

Originally dropped in 1995 under the AJ Sound alias, this three-tracker from Artwork and John Kennedy (Big Apple Records) returns via Decoy with a clean remaster and the same raw bite. ‘Basemental’ is the anchor-stripped, jacking techno with a bubbling acid line and punchy swing, long rinsed by Laurent Garnier and still potent thirty years on. ‘Single Cell’ steps into darker, more mechanical territory, all tension and whirring low-end pressure. ‘High Riser’ closes things out with fluttering chords and a warped sense of propulsion, pushing closer to the deep end. A sharp slice of mid-90s UK minimalism, newly unearthed for those who missed it the first time.