Underground Resistance US Vinilo y CD

Notes: White 'UR003' print on black Gildan t-shirt.

Official shirts approved by UR.

Review: This reissue of Underground Resistance's seminal Nation 2 Nation LP is a significant moment; the group's messages of liberation and resistance feel as relevant as ever, not least given the reivisionist concept behind this EP. Perhaps, though, we should resist chinstroking too much; for the original liner notes of this seminal release criticize the over-intellectualization of characteristically African American art forms such as house, hip-hop, jungle and jazz. Even so, this 1991 classic stands as tall as ever, with sax contributions from Lenny Price helping to explore exactly what jazz would sound like if it had originated with the analogue gear that was available to UR's members, decades later.

Notes: UR Hoodie

Screen printed UR logo, on Russell Hooded Sweatshirt.

Black print on black.

Notes: UR Hoodie

Screen printed UR logo, on Russell Hooded Sweatshirt.

Black print on black.

Notes: Underground Resistance 'Workers' T-Shirt

Tan with Orange print on Gildan Ultra Cotton Shirt

Notes: Underground Resistance 'Workers' T-Shirt

Tan with Orange print on Gildan Ultra Cotton Shirt

Notes: Underground Resistance 'Workers' T-Shirt

Tan with Orange print on Gildan Ultra Cotton Shirt

Notes: Underground Resistance ' Workers' T-Shirt

Neon Yellow with Black print on Gildan Ultra Cotton Shirt

Notes: Underground Resistance ' Workers' T-Shirt

Neon Yellow with Black print on Gildan Ultra Cotton Shirt

Notes: Underground Resistance ' Workers' T-Shirt

Neon Yellow with Black print on Gildan Ultra Cotton Shirt

Review: First released back in 2007, UR's 'Hi Tech Dreams' is widely regarded as one of 'Mad' Mike Banks' most perfectly formed EPs - in part because its blend of optimistic techno futurism with dancefloor darkness offers a neat summary of the 'dreaming of utopia, living in a dystopia' message at the heart of Underground Resistance's militant ethos. But analysis aside, it's simply a terrific record - as this timely reissue proves. A-side 'Hi Tech Dreams' lives up to its promise, with far-sighted melodies, tactile riffs and soulful vocal samples rising above a loose-limbed Motor City techno beat. In contrast, 'Lo Tech Reality' is a moodier and more melancholic chunk of breakbeat-driven techno, while 'Hold My Own' is a murky, hip-hop influenced downtempo head-nodder.

Notes: Classic, OG UR logo T-shirts, bearing the legend "Music That Never Surrenders".

Quality, ultra-cotton T-Shirt.

Official UR merchandise.

Notes: Classic, OG UR logo T-shirts, bearing the legend "Music That Never Surrenders".

Quality, ultra-cotton T-Shirt.

Official UR merchandise.

Notes: Classic, OG UR logo, bearing the legend "Unexploitable".

Quality, ultra-cotton T-Shirt.

Official UR merchandise.

Notes: Classic, OG UR logo, bearing the legend "Unexploitable".

Quality, ultra-cotton T-Shirt.

Official UR merchandise.

Review: Underground Resistance likely owe much of their mythology to the Interstellar Fugitives series; a classic series telling the tale of the UR clique fighting oppression and music-industry corruption on a cosmic scale. It's certainly an experimental delight for most newcomers to the techno genre and/or those who want to trace the history of the sound. DJ S2 (aka. Suburban Knight) and Von Floyd (aka. Gerald Mitchell) are infamous members of the UR gang; both of them have enjoyed success in the genre, and as part of the clique, since at least the late 1980s. 'Post Emancipation Psychosis' is a classic slab of UR's anarchic, ironic militancy. With its orderly drum machine march, the eponymous track by S2 describes the paranoia and loss of mental clarity one might after having been freed from the coercive clutches of a former master; meanwhile, Floyd's 'Geiger Counter' is a super-early electro classic, channelling a bursting, radioactive soundbank even few producers today could replicate.