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| Album Rating: B+/A- |
It's difficult to say that Cyantific hasn't been near the center of the drum & bass world for the past ten years. After the then-duo released their first single way back in 2002, Cyantific has come out with a full-length on one of the biggest labels in all of electronic music at the time (Hospital Records), won an award for biggest breakthrough DJ, gone through a split that left Jon Stanley, half of the duo, to continue the Cyantific production alone, hopped around big-name labels like Ram Records in the hopes of finding a more permanent home, and recently solved the above problem by founding their own label that has seen releases from genre stalwarts like Logistics as well as up-and-coming talents like Dimension. And the producers deserve the attention: huge tracks like "Little Green Men," "Timescape," and "Ghetto Blaster" are modern classics of sorts, and the experimental style that Cyantific is known for has taken center stage in the drum & bass world as of the past few years. Cyantific have ridden on a steady wave of successful releases and DJ sets, and Stanley has kept up the sound he's known for in a way that shows his mastery over his genre, even without the help of Matt Whitehead (the other half of the duo). At this point in his career, Stanley is flexing his creative muscle, sometimes stepping away from the standard double-time breaks of most drum & bass. His remix of The Resonators' "Sweet Love Affair" demonstrates the versatility of the Cyantific sound and sets expectations high for what's to come in the Cyantific catalogue, as it's difficult to accuse him of "playing it safe."
