Throughout the first half of the mixtape, the Jamaican/London influences are strong and you can expect to hear plenty of deep frequencies and classic dub instrument-reverb. Ironically however, the efforts from the seasoned General Roots band generally come off as the weakest here with 'Stop & Search' sounding a little hollow and 'Green Xmas,' being an amusing yet ultimately unfulfilling track. The same can be said of Sir Spyro's grimed out instrumental dub 'Fox', which is as much a fond reminder of grime's brief domination of the London scene, as it is under-produced and somewhat flimsy, at the very least in need of a solid remastering.
On the other hand, the two Flatline tracks come across as highly accomplished and well produced Reggae/Dub instrumentals, exactly the kind of thing you'll want to sit and smoke to, you simply just can't fault that kind of effectiveness. Likewise Dubloke's 'Spray Can' maintains the high production standard, even if the dancehall/moombahton vibes aren't your thing.
By track 7 things have taken an interesting and welcome House turn, starting with Fortay's light and grooved out electro remix of 'Crazy In Love' and then heading deeper with DrDr's 'Extra'. This is the 'Enktape Vol.1' at its most accessible, with DrDr's vocally lead production touching on 'Future Garage' rhythms whilst still holding the kind of 'Pop' appeal you'd find in many a Katy B track for example, by no means a bad thing and indeed one of the mixtape's highlights.
Onto the tape's only RnB track and Fortay's second contribution, the reworking of Brandy's 'Getting Me Down'. This track really is a silky as they come, it won't be long before Fortay's slick production and Brandy's sultry vocals have you laying back and clearing your mind as all your troubles drift right to the back of you mind. Expect this one to start cropping up on your most played list soon.
At this point we turn to House again as Rendar & Leebo's 4x4 beats carry us home in 'Hyperspace' and 'Echo Base'. Though the former is the stronger of the two tracks and certainly the most uplifting, the deep end focus and spaced out feel of 'Echo Base' is certainly not without its charm and a well chosen wind-down to the end of the mixtape...incidentally both are arguably the stand out tracks alongside 'Getting Me Down', 'Extra' and 'Ream Dub'.
Altogether the mixtape is a real achievement and a promising start for the Enk Collective's ever growing talent roster. It's safe to say we've been critical here, but the fact is; these young talents have the potential to go bigger and better with each new release, and we just want to make sure they keep pushing to show us what they can really do.....watch this space for big things in 2013.
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