Meat Katie
Vibrator
Shock


Having been a fan of Meat Katie for quite a number of years, I was a little disappointed with his third studio album 'Vibrator'. Whist I'm a fan of heavy breaks, this album moves in precisely the opposite direction, featuring a much more tech-house style with beats bordering on 4/4 instead of the decidedly breakbeat.

That's OK though, because I do like this style, just not as much as the heavier styles.

The album starts with his collaboration with Justin Drake called Going Down, a house-y little number that would work well in a club. Turn Me Out with Christian J gets a little more disco, with a Donna Summer-styled bassline that rolls along until the 'hand in the air' vocals kick in.

Round And Round features Katherine Ellis on vocals and is a squelchy, blippy number, but this falls a little flat for my liking.

Elite Force and Roland Clark up the ante with the track Divine, with '80s-sounding synths and electro pacing, featuring a sermonising diatribe about the greatness of the beat, harking back to the ecstasy-filled early days of Chicago house music.

It's a homage rather than a tacky, nostalgic look through rose-tinted glasses though. His joint effort with Aussie Jono Fernandez on Pace loses me though and the Aquasky collaboration Feathers is a major disappointment, considering the amount of joy I got from Overneath, the uniting on Aquasky's album 'Team Players'.

Meat Katie flies solo for a few tracks, with the rocking More Sin and the very electro-tinged Just Don't Break. Night In Taipei is probably my favourite, being squelchy but with a driving bassline and familiar beat.

Nutron with Elite Force shows yet again why their partnership over the years has been so strong. The joining of D Ramirez and Odissi on Stop The Revolution is also quite a cool track, harking back to early rave. Unfortunately the remix of Peace Division's It's Here It's Now isn't as strong.

It was five years between albums for Meat Katie and it feels as though this album should have come out three years ago, when this style of electro breaks was fresh.

It's almost as if the people he has collaborated with have pushed this sound while he has been standing in their shadow; as a result, his album doesn't stand as strong as it should.

Julian Cram