Beatdown

In my mind, you either love drum and bass or you hate it—or you have no idea what it is. Pretty much indistinguishable from other Fabric mix albums and the Fabriclive series releases, this is the second d&b-heavy Scratch Perverts addition to the Fabric Records discography. Scratch Perverts were last heard on Fabric mixing for Fabriclive.22 in 2005, though they’re also resident DJs at the Fabric club in LDN.

If I’m to review turntable/DJ/club music from a feminist perspective, I’d have to say that the name Scratch Perverts rubs me the wrong way. It’s bad enough to be a pervert, but one whose name could also mean to itch? STDs are no joke, kids.

Beatdown is an album I’d send to my queer best pal, who currently lives in Minneapolis and never quite shook off our youthful nights spent at raves in Midwestern abandoned strip malls. My boi Daniel lives for good sushi and drum and bass. On the latter and pacifiers as drug accessories, we have never agreed. Grown up and a continent apart, I think of him as I sample this album.

While Scratch Perverts mix tracks from folks like Diplo, AC Slater, and M.I.A. can be heard under the din of the others, the mix left me a little flat on a Friday night. Maybe it was the end-of-week fatigue of the working class. Maybe my recent penchant for jazz has dulled my clubbing sensibilities. I have another birthday on the horizon, and I always feel older than I am. Whatever the case, I didn’t feel much like heading out for a night on the town when listening to Scratch Perverts. I felt like crawling into bed. Just when I thought the mix would pick up tempo, it stayed the same.

Then again, maybe my friend and I are stagnant in certain ways. Who isn’t? Don’t they say “some people never change?” But if this album isn’t for me, it’s certainly for my friend. It doesn’t really matter if we’ve changed or not; however it went down, we stuck together.

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