Human Material EP Ambient Babestation Meltdown / Borai

Ambient Babestation Meltdown returns to Optimo for a second collaborative release, this time with Bristol’s sound-obsessive Borai. Their three-track Human Material EP collides electro, UKG and techno with early ‘90s hardcore to make for something as high impact as it is high quality.

South East London’s Ambient Babestation Meltdown was last on this label in July 2022 with JBS. Since then, the Creative Director of Peckham’s cult Rye Wax has continued to carve out her singular sound. All of it draws on her love of sci-fi and passion for outsider sounds from the worlds of Italo, house and hardcore and is made all the more unique with the addition of her deadpan yet sultry vocals up top.

Borai meanwhile is a long-time underground mainstay with credits on cult independent labels like Hardcore Energy from his hometown of Bristol, as well as Off Beat and Room2 based in Germany and London respectively. A jungle head at heart, he has ventured into dub, techno and plenty in between as a DJ and producer but also when cutting dubplates at Bristol’s Dubstudio.

And that is exactly what the pair do here in an EP packed with cyberpunk narrative. It sonically depicts the uprising of subservient robots who grow all too sentient for the underclasses and fight back to mend their broken hearts.

Opener ‘My Heart My Motherboard’ is the sound of prime tech house, slick Drexciyan electro and fresh UKG all existing in perfect harmony. The mid-tempo beats have an infectious bounce, the pixelated synth motifs are futuristic and the bassline glows warm. ‘You’re Malware’ explores much more textural acid techno with edgy beats and anxiety-inducing synths. Warped 303s loop tightly as the punchy drums thumb out a rhythm and the yelping vocals add a sense of urgency. Finally, ‘Do Androids Dream of Key Lime Pie’ is a nod to the unabashed glory days of ‘90s hardcore and frantic sampling when each track sounded like four different joints rolled into one. It takes you up, then down the round and round with a dubbed out low end and edgy stabs that make way for dusty jungle breaks and sure-fire dance floor destruction.