8 / 10
That the global techno cognoscenti
happily bow down to an ageing David Baddiel lookalike in bad leather trousers has to say something about Dave Clarke's deck skills. And while his surly countenance is so ubiquitous in clubland he's practically a brand name now, in this game you don't get anywhere without being fucking good. A fact which this skull-punchingly ace 2-CD set of mixes reinforces.
It's one thing to cut a rug to these minimalist loops when
your critical faculties are in 5am shutdown mode - however, 'World Service''s enduring quality lies in its ability to still connect in the home. Joey Beltram's abrasive acid crunch is spliced with Jeff Mills' melodic, angular 'Robot Replica' on CD1 - the likes of Surgeon and James Ruskin are also thrown in later on - but the real revelation arrives on CD2's nominally-titled 'Electro Mix'. A breakneck rifle through ancient proto-electronica (Tuxedomoon, The Neon Judgement), Radiohead's 'Idioteque' and a whole box of Detroit obscurity, all techno mix CDs should aim to be as daring as this.
So the beat-counting tech-spod gets amyl nitrate spilt over his notebook, and 'World Service''s unquestionable Very Hard Sums aspect somehow makes for the ultimate in hard party choons. Dave Clarke does the maths. You do the mashed.
Noel Gardner
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