Disrupt / The Bass Has Left The Building / Jahtari

Back in 2009 I picked up a copy of Disrupt’s “The Bass Has Left The Building” solely for its incredible art work. As eye-catching as those super sumos were, it was noticing Jimmy Cauty designed the sleeve, being a bit of a KLF obsessive, that sealed the deal. I knew nothing of the label, Jahtari, which launched in 2004, probably because until 2008 their releases had been files and the occasional CD only. Once I’d gotten over the gatefold, the music was just as striking. Sci-Fi skanking, that used 8-bit beats and bleeps, and Bontempi and Casio organs, to build raw, rude, buzzing electro “Sleng Teng” rhythms. The melodies mixed “The Twilight Zone” with arcade game themes, and the production peppered them with bubbling circuitry, laser blasts, serrated sirens, “Speak & Spell” exclamations, spinning and spiralling sound effects. Like Rephlex’s Bochum Welt relocated to Kingston, Jamaica, and put together with a plugged-in Lee Perry-esque playfulness. Its wonky, lop-sided dance paying…