via FACT: It’s a warm, immersive selection comprised entirely of their own work – as GC and also such aliases as Jedi Knights, Secret Ingredients and Reload – and it takes in deep techno, low-slung hip-hop, sinewy sci-fi electro, ambient jungle and other vectors into the unknown. Having reunited this year after a long hiatus, the duo of Mark Pritchard and Tom Middleton is rightfully and righteously reasserting its status as one of the most vital and multi-faceted production units to come out of the rave era.
Of course GC are best known for their 1994 debut album 76:14, a landmark in British electronic music that helped define the sound of “chill out” even as it effortlessly outclassed the rest of the field. But of course 76:14 is just a part, albeit the central part, of GC’s legacy. If you’ve never heard Pentamerous Metamorphosis, the pair’s epic five-track reinvention of the Blood Music LP by shoegaze middleweights Chapterhouse, then it’s warmly recommended. Reload, originally a Pritchard solo project before Middleton joined its ranks, gave us a fine run of deep, expressive techno records, most notably the jaw-dropping A Collection Of Short Stories, which was included in FACT’s choice of the 20 Best UK Techno records ever made.
As most of you will know, Middleton and Pritchard have hardly been quiet in the years since the release of the classic GC and Reload fare. Middleton has made music as Cosmos, Mod Wheel and Amba, while Pritchard has been particularly visible of late thanks to his interventions in dubstep and its tributaries, including own-name releases on Hyperdub and Deep Medi Musik, and albums for Warp Records as Africa Hitech (with Steve Spacek) and Harmonic 313 (which evolved out of his and Dave Brinkworth’s mid-noughties, retro-experimental electronics project Harmonic 33).
What about new recorded material from the duo? Well, do know that Global Communication are teaming up with The Vinyl Factory to release a series of limited edition vinyl releases this Autumn, including remixes by Lone and Photek alongside their own new edits of classic GC tracks. Keep eyes and ears peeled for those; we’ll let you know when we have more details.
Until then, dig into FACT mix 268, the perfect soundtrack to late August, that beautiful, frightening moment when the finite nature of summer suddenly becomes clear. Rage against the dying of the light, people, and listen to this while you’re doing it.
DOWNLOAD MIX HERE
Track list:
1. Global Communication – Obselon Minos
2. Reload – Ptyzh
3. Reload – The Biosphere
4. Jedi Knights – May The Funk Be With You
5. Secret Ingredients – Chicago Chicago
6. Jedi Knights – One For M.A.W.
7. Global Communication – The Way (Secret Ingredients Mix)
8. Jedi Knights – Catch The Break
9. Jedi Knights – Solina
10. Chameleon – Links
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