11:11 Invasion Album Serves Up a Serious Feast Of Styles and Sounds

Electronic Compilation Album

Electronic Alliance Records – 11:11 Invasion (Compilation Album)

What a great time to be a fan of electronic music! For the second week in a row, I get to review an album that highlights just how strong the world of independent electronica is right now. Following in the history of genre team-up collections such as the rap-meets-rock of the Judgment Night soundtrack and the metal-meets-electronica of the Spawn soundtrack, 11:11 Invasion couples 11 electronic music artists with a diverse range of rappers. The resulting album is best described as excellent.

Starting with the 1920s jazz club chorus and drum and bass switch up of “A Blessing and a Curse” by Davey Hub featuring Fat Pockets and Skyline Tigers, through to the acid-house workout of “Warehouse Party” by Gribbles, 11:11 Invasion serves up a feast of styles and sounds that is sure to please listeners. For me, there were three standouts. “Tribe” by Skaarl is a big bass house number featuring the Dizzee Rascal-style rap of Reminiss. “Light Trails” features the sing-song rapping of Bonnie Legion over the top of a minimalist snare and synth groove. And “Pikes Peak” by ØLSKXX (featuring Cee Reed) brought to mind the dense production of cLOUDDEAD and the lyrical flow of Atmosphere.

That is not to suggest those are the only strong tracks on offer here. I could have also mentioned the RZA meets John Carpenter production on “Better Place” by DZM (featuring Helstrip) or the straight up boom-bap of “Oldsckool S.A.N” by Cylotron (Featuring Donte Pringle), but there’s only a certain amount of words I have to play with.

Electronic Alliance Records are to be commended for this experiment. The sheer quality and range on display here should make this a must-listen for all fans of electronic music and hip-hop. So, for the second week in a row…

Diverse Intelligent Electronic Music On Red Shift Compilation Album

Simon says 5 out of 5 stars.

5 Stars