El-P – We are all going to burn in hell megamixxx3

El-P’s first major release since the untimely collapse of Definitive Jux is deceptively labelled as the third in a series of mixtapes, although El-P is on record as saying that he thought of '..Burn...' as a complete album in its own right.

With a heavy reliance on synthesisers, the album’s aggressively dark feel is offset by melody. On the likes of Whores – The Movie (surely a Michael Bay film?) and Meanstreak In 3 Parts, sinister electro basslines and beats betray a hint of dubstep influencing proceedings; How to Serve a Man and the remix of Young Jeezy’s I Got This wouldn’t sound out of place alongside Rustie or Joker.

Drunk With A Loaded Pistol and Time Won’t Tell feature fuzzed-out shoegaze guitars and glitch radio static, while the ghost of prime-era breakers’ electro looms large over the remix of Kidz in the Hall's Driving Down The Block and the stripped drums of Contagious. Throughout, ‘...Burn...’ has an air of urban dystopia: sirens, gun-clacks and distorted explosions rub up against layered synth lines and heavily treated, pitch-bent organ sounds.

Without a doubt, if El-P had recorded vocals for these tracks, the album would be heralded as yet another underground classic to rank alongside Funcrusher Plus. As it stands, we’re given a tantalising glimpse as to where our maestro might be headed. As you listen to these beats, you can almost imagine Aesop Rock and Vast Aire rubbing their hands in anticipation of El-Producto’s next move. Both consistently innovative, and something of a departure for El-P as a producer, this is much more than just another mixtape. [Bram Gieben]