•• Josh Wink - Profound Sounds v2 (Ovum Recordings)
•• Published: SoundsXP, July 2004
•• Original article: http://www.soundsxp.com/949.shtml

Still best known for his budgerigar-on-speed squealing acid stomper 'Higher State of Consciousness', Josh Wink's latest release comes in the form of a DJ mix for the Profound Sounds series. The gentle chords and spiritual spiel of opener 'Form Is Emptiness' by Swayzak do little to prepare us for the tough tech-house that follows.

This is a minimal journey through Wink's dark side and there's very little room for melody as driving drums and one-note synth stabs are relied upon to create a hypnotically repetitive foray into the grimy underbelly of dance. Many tracks seem to have the same beginning, middle and end with only slight tweaks on the way meaning they pass by largely unnoticed.

It's not all muted minimalism though, highpoints include the bouncing bassline and ice cool chords of Rithma's 'Tracks For A Weirder Day', and Barada's straight-from-the-eighties techno funk track 'Yard Work'. An ongoing love for squiggly acid build-ups is in evidence during Wink's own reworking of Dave Clarke's 'Compass', an intense, pounding growl of a tune that thuds away inside your skull long after this set closer has passed.

Dance music was made for dancing to and while this is great music to leap around and get sweaty in a club to it is probably not challenging or varied enough to give the armchair listener a memorable experience.

More enjoyable is the bonus disc featuring four of Wink's own compositions and mixes. 'How's Your Evening So Far?' borrows heavily from Lil Louis' 'French Kiss', a reminder of the days when all it took was a bit of groaning to get Radio One to censor your music (take note Eamon and Frankee), creating a trance-inducing twisted house track. This is then followed by Wink's biggest acid wig-out since 'Higher State…' in the form of the aptly named 'Evil Acid'. Menacing, mean and moody, it's definitely not one to listen to alone.

All in all a quite unrelenting and at times monotonous trip through techno and the hardest of tech-house, partially redeemed by touches of funk and the odd deviation from the formula. There are some good moments but this certainly isn’t one to hail as a classic showcase of what dance music truly has to offer.

- Ian Roullier