MEAT BEAT MANIFESTO - Autoimmune

Autoimmune is the 9th studio album from techno/industrial-electronic UK band Meat Beat Manifesto, formed in 1987 by Jack Dangers and Jonny Stephens. Recent albums from MBM have been fairly varied, and this is no exception – touching on dark electronica but predominantly dubstep.

I Hold The Mic!, with guest vocals from Daddy Sandy, is a classic opener, as crisp, heavy breaks are overlapped by shadowy keyboard demons and a heavily rhythmic bassline. Rapid-fire reggae vocals are the icing on the cake.

Having worked with The Orb’s Alex Patterson in 2002, I can definitely sense influential remnants on House of Unique Stink. This has an upbeat – almost spacey - design, with washing synths swirling around thick, overlapping beats and Dubloner’s bold vocal.

(Live) And Direct (Live) is a powerhouse effort with MBM combining genres elegantly – combining contemporary vocoded vocal snippets with a smidgen of dancehall idealism, hip hop lyricism and more massively stacked breaks. Meanwhile, Less treads more familiar ground, its industrial aesthetic grinding away at those dubby bass lines with spiteful electronics – close attention reveals a deep production mix.

Burning with inexhaustible energy, the rest of Autoimmune is much the same – continually investigating, pushing and prodding, with bludgeoning yet precise beats and potent rhythms. Meat Beat Manifesto sound like a band with a 20-year back catalogue, strongly focused and adept in producing the music they want to make – in this case dubstep – their long-standing experience is telling. Most importantly, however, Autoimmune is totally contemporary.



	MEAT BEAT MANIFESTO - Autoimmune
	8.2
	Planet Mu ~ ZIQ202CD ~ 28th April 2008
	Autoimmune is the 9th studio album from techno/industrial-electronic UK band Meat Beat Manifesto, formed in 1987 by Jack Dangers and Jonny Stephens. Recent albums from MBM have been fairly varied, and this is no exception – touching on dark electronica but predominantly dubstep. I Hold The Mic!, with guest vocals from Daddy Sandy, is a classic opener, as crisp, heavy breaks are overlapped by shadowy keyboard demons and a heavily rhythmic bassline. Rapid-fire reggae vocals are the icing on the cake. Having worked with The Orb’s Alex Patterson in 2002, I can definitely sense influential remnants on House of Unique Stink. This has an upbeat – almost spacey - design, with washing synths swirling around thick, overlapping beats and Dubloner’s bold vocal. (Live) And Direct (Live) is a powerhouse effort with MBM combining genres elegantly – combining contemporary vocoded vocal snippets with a smidgen of dancehall idealism, hip hop lyricism and more massively stacked breaks. Meanwhile, Less treads more familiar ground, its industrial aesthetic grinding away at those dubby bass lines with spiteful electronics – close attention reveals a deep production mix. Burning with inexhaustible energy, the rest of Autoimmune is much the same – continually investigating, pushing and prodding, with bludgeoning yet precise beats and potent rhythms. Meat Beat Manifesto sound like a band with a 20-year back catalogue, strongly focused and adept in producing the music they want to make – in this case dubstep – their long-standing experience is telling. Most importantly, however, Autoimmune is totally contemporary.