Various Artists – Ed Rec Vol. 2 [2007; Because Music, Ed Banger Records, Vice Records, Wagram Music]

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Released the same year as Justice’s debut album, this compilation features tracks from them and their label-mates on the French label of Ed Banger Records, with French house
being the primary flavor,

while hip-hop, electro, hard techno, and turntablism influences float about freely.  Stiff buzzes, glossy touch-ups, manic percussion, and odd-beat but funky rhythms fill the music, most of it eschewing vocals. 

Tone slides, lo-fi samples, and over-amping lend things a generally buzzy feel, which helps mask the heavy amounts of production that went into the electronic pieces with gritty patinas and forceful kicks.  A good tour through the electronic stage of the era, with most of the tracks still sounding ahead of their time, and an enjoyable batch of lively electronica even without that context.

Various Artists – Basic Replay [2007; Basic Replay]

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With this compilation, the Basic Replay record label provides a thorough overview of the reggae tunes they’d reissued, mingling relatively big names like Chuck Turner and White Mice with lesser-knowns and under-repped greats.  Dabs of dub and dancehall rhythms drift up and pass on through the sixteen tracks, keeping up an easy flow of style through the variety of acts and attitudes.  With virtually all of the inclusions culled from the late ‘80s, there is some similarity of production quality from track to track, but they all come through with clear and full-bodied tones thanks to some careful remastering.  A very solid collection, making it even more of a shame that the label’s reissue efforts ended the same year as its release.