\"Drum & bass has never been the purest of genres. From the psychotic juxtapositions of the hardcore that spawned it to the Detroit-tinged, jazz-leaning liquid jungle of Bukem, Wax Doctor and company, right through to techstep's horror movie fixations and beyond, 150-180 BPM bass music has rarely been afraid to plunder territories afar. Nowadays, the Autonomicisation of the Continuum represents another, highly layered stage in this process, one of the hallmarks of which—not entirely new thanks to the work of Photek, Marcus Intalex and man-of-the-moment ASC—is the flirtation with, and assimilation of, other genres within the wider sphere of electronic music (primarily house/techno, electro, dubstep and classic IDM). After years of generic mid-range drudgery, it's like D&B has reawoken its primordial, pluralistic impulse, revitalising what had become—barring the steadfast amen pietism of Breakage, Equinox et al.—a living death.
If you're in need of evidence, look no further than Metalheadz's latest LP, which sees Commix's much-loved Call To Mind ripped apart and put back together again by everyone from Burial to Underground Resistance. There's barely a trace of atypical \"D&B\"—or any sort of D&B—in sight. The original album, released back in the dark(ish) days of 2007, was enjoyable but patchy, with standout tracks like \"Satellite Type 2\" (one of the best technoid rollers of the '00s) and \"Japanese Electronics\" (a luscious precursor to today's '80s-fetishising Tetris-stepping) rubbing up against more pedestrian fare typical of the (underground) sound of the day. Re:Call to Mind is an entirely different beast, traversing myriad styles and tempos in an attempt to break away from what, prior to the Autonomic bomb, had become an extremely restrictive milieu. Ironically, to the extent that it offers a comparably faithful picture of today's bass music underground, it succeeds.\" - Resident Advisor
