Herve 'Cheap Thrills Volume 1' (Cheap Thrills) Released 21/09/09

Of the whole blog-house phenomenon that found itself suddenly exploding outward over the last couple of years, the most entertainingly out-there material has been that associated in some way with Herve, the man also known as The Count of Monte Cristal, one half of chart-bothering duo The Count & Sinden. Aside from his penchant for aliases, Josh Harvey has an ear for the kind of elastic, hyperkinetic bass lines you’d prefer not to take home to meet your parents, filled with gonzo aggression and the kind of saucer-eyed silliness that’s been returning to a minimal saturated club scene. Okay, so there’s not a lot that’s smart about the tracks Harvey releases on his Cheap Thrills label, and not a lot that’s particularly suited to fulfilling home listening, but the majority of this first compilation is pretty unashamed about where its allegiances lie – this stuff is pure, unadulterated fun.

The unmixed first CD is where the appeal lies for CD DJs looking to expand their collection of this kind of material; opener ‘UFO’ by Jack Beats, with its snaking oriental melody line that suddenly distorts into steely writhing, should be familiar to anyone who’s been out to an electro night over the past year or so. Ditto Fake Blood’s ‘Mars’ which has pretty much achieved bona fide anthem status by now – yes, it’s been overplayed, but it’s witty, fun and wonderfully effective at what it does: lifting an entire room’s arms into the air in unison. Given that most of Fake Blood’s material is of the distorted, big bass ilk, it’s quite a surprise to hear his other contribution here, ‘Fix Your Accent’, which drops bleep melodies and a DFA-style slow build over a glitchy house backbone. Coming second track in, it provides at least a semblance of proof that there’s more tucked away in his arsenal than an armful of sub-bass and a general willingness to tear apart other peoples’ work in the pursuit of hedonistic pleasures.

The influence of bassline house, an often maligned and generally simplistic genre which has taken a long time to spread south from it’s northern roots, run deep in the work of many of Cheap Thrills’ artists. Perhaps that’s why it’s such an appropriate label title – the majority of this material is unlikely to still be appearing on dancefloors in two years’s time, let alone ten, yet the appeal of so much it lies in its ephemeral nature. The message: let your brain take a back seat for a while and just enjoy the ride while it lasts. Hopefully you’ll come off the end of the conveyor belt without too much permanent (brain) damage.