At the turn of the century, it seemed that on a weekly basis, another broken beat track was released on ground-breaking labels such as Bitasweet and Main Squeeze. The likes of IG Culture, Bugz In The Attic, Seiji, Mark de Clive-Lowe and Kaidi were putting out scores of singles. But what was unique about those heady days wasn’t the quantity, but quality of the output — something that’s echoed in this superb compilation by Domu, aka Dominic Stanton.
In the early noughties, he was establishing his reputation, DJing and remixing for the likes of Jazzanova and The Cinematic Orchestra. This double CD features a collection of tracks spanning a decade and is a far better account of Domu’s ability than his solo album, Return Of The Rogue.
The standard here is high. Very high. The first CD is littered with self-penned broken beat anthems such as Last Time, Springbreak, Dangerous Times, Taking Flight and Save It. The second includes remixes, many of which improve upon the originals.
What’s apparent throughout the album is Domu’s skilful use of oblique, jazzy melodies and dense, fractured rhythms. Few can match his talent. There’s less broken beat produced these days, chiefly because it’s a tricky genre to master, but Domu makes it looks easy.