Album Review: Soul Music by Special Request

When it comes to evoking nostalgia, Paul Woolford is keeping it extreme. For his Special Request project, the UK producer keeps his studio space loaded with vintage hardware, including an FM transmitter that allows him to broadcast over his own frequency and sample the results. This complicated process, which Woolford has referred to as "creating a false memory," plays a large role in his aim to honor his teenage years of listening to pirate radio, hearing the thrilling sounds of first-generation jungle and rave through his speakers as rave culture was forming and, as the years progressed, re-shaping itself into new forms.

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Seven years since the massive success of "Erotic Discourse," Paul Woolford has rebooted his career. Most recently he's shown an affinity with a new wave of UK DJs and producers, topping off a string of bass-heavy tracks with the uplifting piano house of "Untitled," one of this year's biggest summer jams. But even that one pales in comparison to his music as Special Request, a project he started last year as an outlet for his more junglist leanings.

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Lo! The jungle bandwagon approacheth! Or perhaps it’s already here. A swathe of UK producers have been dusting off their Amens this year, from Etch’s 130bpm hardcore reboots and Demdike Stare’s noxious Test Pressings series to the rave-ready bangers of Tessela. Even Four Tet is getting involved , which – with the best of intentions – is usually a sign that The Fonz will shortly be assuming the squatting position, thighs quivering with tensity.

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