Various Artists Uprising

• Words: James Friedman
• Label: Dope Amm
• XLR8R Rating: /10

From the looks of things, drum & bass is enjoying something of a resurgence. Crews like New York's Mathematics have injected what looked to be a stagnant genre with healthy doses of house-inflected melody and sexiness. However, the sound remains a hotbed of formulaic production and clichéd composition. Dope Ammo Records' latest compilation is a prime example. It features track after track that removes any shred of innovation from jungle's poppier permutations by grafting them onto simplistic drum loops and irritating filter squelches. To be fair, avid fans of the funked-up and discofied sounds of Shy FX or Defunked label releases will like this comp-it has those same influences, albiet with the harder beat textures of producers like Hazzard to give it edge. But overall, despite the running beats and b-lines aplenty, Uprising offers little in the way of innovation.