Meat Beat Manifesto, one of my favourite bands of 2 decades has a new LP out called Autoimmune. For those of you who know MBM really well but haven’t heard the release I can tell you what to expect in one sentence: Imagine if 2002’s RUOK had a second album that was remixes of Subliminal Sandwich co-produced by 2002-era Scorn. If you know MBM just a bit and want to know what the LP is all about, it would take more than one sentence. For those of you who don’t know MBM very well and don’t care to know then move on, buddy, there ain’t nothin’ here for you.

Over the past few years, Jack Dangers (the main man behind the group) has been actively producing all sorts of material, and a good deal of it has ventured into late 60’s BBC-styled SFX music merged with jazz - but with heavy beats. I have enjoyed those releases, but truth be told, they weren’t doing it for me as much as a good deal of his older material. Fortunately for me, this album seems to be a return towards dub and reggae, albeit with a lot of the newer production techniques under Jack’s belt. Some of the vocal work styles, samples and beats are heavily related to 96’s Subliminal Sandwich, which was a super tripped out ride through dub. However, a lot of the more experimental computer based work from 2002’s RUOK also make a fresh appearance, though this time with a more organic feeling than in the previous release. Gone are the jazz influences from 2005’s material with extremely nasty dubstep styled basslines warbling and tearing through a good deal of the tracks.

Interestingly enough, there are two versions of the LP - one on Metropolis Records (an industrial label) and the other on Planet Mu (a label which was very IDM for a while but has jumped all over the place and seems to be quite influential in the dubstep scene now). The inclusion on the industrial label is very surprising for me, as most of the artists on that roster would never be the sort of artists you would expect at the same live event as MBM. The Planet Mu release surprised me a bit, until I actually heard all the dubstep influences on the album.

I mention this two label situation for good reason: the track lists are very different from one another. The MR release has 14 tracks and the PM release has 10 - with some tracks exclusive to each release. If you had to pick just one, go with the MR version, not just because it has more tracks but because its exclusive track Solid Waste is one of my faves. Though that release also has a track called Young Cassius, which feels out of place for not only the release, but the band itself. Not only is it a straight up hip hop track, but it lacks the inventive flair in percussion in most of Danger’s productions. (In fact, unless I am mistaken, the primary beat and bass sound like a straight lift from UNKLE’s extended mix of Rock On - the slower bit with the Middle Eastern chant). I should also note that the two exclusive tracks on the Mu version (House of Unique Stink and (Live) and Dire (Live) are also really very good, one feeling very evocative of Blue Room era Orb and the latter just being some beats being thrown at you, Hell, get both.

Anyway, it’s a good release and seems to go back a bit more towards the less laid back sounds from a few years ago, with the new addition of some pretty wicked low-end bass work. Definitely worth a listen. If you ask nicely I may put up a few non-downloadable snippets.