Lickable Beats

AMG Review of Lickable Beats

Kingsley Marshall
All Music Guide

Alex Banks and Jay Hurren launched their own Intercom label in 1998 on the back of the not-inconsiderable success of the pair at Moving Shadow as EZ Rollers. The label has since built quite a reputation, the Rollers' faith in a roster of previously unknown producers shaking drum'n'bass club rigs with everything from old-school-influenced, white-gloves-and-whistles rabble-rousers right through to house-flecked filtered thumpers. This compilation succeeds as a showcase of the label, with titles such as "Crowd Rocker," "Airborne Phunk," and "Mad About the House" the first clue to the high-energy hijinks contained therein. Tracks from label stalwarts Tommy Knocker, 60 Minute Man and Touch make up much of the track listing, with contributions from the Rollers' themselves featured in both original and remixed form. Indeed it is the crisp beats, swirling melody and liquidized loops of piano in the pair's own "Midnight Express" that truly steals the show, a deft mid-track flick from jungle to house tempo, making for a memorable highlight.