- Of the 30 tracks on Special Request's Fabriclive 91, six were his own. Some, like the Blade Runner-sampling jungle of "Replicant" and the regal swells of "Stairfoot Lane Bunker," were big moments in the set. Others, including the ambient boil of "Telepathic Dog," were connective tissues. Each track felt essential to Fabriclive 91's frenetic flow. Stairfoot Lane Bunker whittles down its pirate radio energy into five tracks, plus a remix from Minor Science, AKA Resident Advisor's Angus Finlayson, that capture the same fearless spirit.
Stairfoot Lane Bunker burns with the fire of previous Special Request 12-inches, but the rave and hardcore callbacks—mentasms, spinbacks, gunshots—of, say, the Modern Warfare series have ebbed away. "Redrum" is a Dopplereffekt-style electro track, with a speak-and-spell vocal and specks of acid in the bassline. A more cinematic sound emerges on the rumbling ambient of "Five Lane Ends" and "Stairfoot Lane Bunker," where thunder breaks amid a respiring string section.
The second half of "Stairfoot Lane Bunker" breaks into jungle, a style common to Special Request releases. The results have rarely felt this fierce. The percussion on "Replicant" and "Stairfoot Lane Bunker" is etched with laser-precise details, such as stereo-panning, micro-edited hi-hats and stuttered one-shots. On Finlayson's remix of "Stairfoot Lane Bunker," a more peculiar intricacy emerges. Short breakbeat volleys, drum rolls and pitched-up scraps of what could be funk vocals or rainforest sounds hold up a funhouse mirror to the original.
TracklistA1 Redrum
A2 Stairfoot Lane Bunker
A3 Telepathic Dog
B1 Replicant
B2 Five Lane Ends
B3 Stairfoot Lane Bunker (Minor Science Remix)