- Like Data, new drum & bass producer Rockwell has perked some ears for the razor-wire detail and high-tech flair of his tracks. His debut on the excellent Darkestral Recordings is almost too true to form. "Everything & U" has all the right parts: deep-space synths, whooshes, smiling keys that float in and out of the mix. These are stitched together with a fine drum track of scrapes, clicks, whirrs and snaps. It's all lovely, functional and a bit frictionless, going down as smoothly as cough syrup.
But, for most, "Reverse Engineering" has been the main attraction, a tune that plays backwards and sounds backwards. Like a good jungle tune, it explores the simple pleasures of creative and irreverent sampling. But the misused sounds in "Reverse Engineering" are those of, well, Rockwell's other tracks. And unlike a good jungle tune, the track hits just one note, stretching it out to a six-minute statement.
It's the sound of perpetual rewind, comprised largely of kicks and snares in reverse that are accented by violent groans, reverb and echoey ambience. Midway, these inside-out sounds are thrown into sharp relief by synth notes that simply play forward—a nice if subtle trick. This is an excellent DJ tool, something with the radical momentum to flip a mix on its head, if used properly. But it's a little too hermetic to be more than a curio. Gloss over Rockwell's microscopic details and you find a leaden groove boxed inside pretty packaging.
Tracklist A1 Reverse Engineering
B1 Everything (& U)