Viper’s full Acts of Mad Men Volume 2 is almost upon us, releasing next Friday, January 31. Like volume one, it’s a melange of artists and styles, including tracks from the likes of Blaine Stranger, Megnetude, IndideInfo & Mefjus, and Cyantific. Designed as a compilation series to encourage a broad spectrum of styles and subgenres to be displayed under one roof, this volume of Acts of Mad Men seems also to have encouraged its contributors to let loose and make what they truly love.
A major case in this point is today’s Your EDM premiere, a collab between Viper label head Futurebound and Kronology NCT called “Screwface.” It will surprise more than a few punters because the whole track doesn’t really sound like any one of the three artists, if pigeonholes are to be believed. That said, really listening to the track finds pieces of all of them.
“Screwface” was originally attributed as Futurebound vs. Kronology and NCT and while it flows well and is clearly a solid collab, in certain spaces one can hear that sort of push/pull of styles: melodic dancefloor and starburst snares versus grindy basss synth; experience and polish versus raw enthusiasm. It’s all there, expressing itself in a cohesive dancefloor banger. You can’t really argue with that, and chances are the artists didn’t either. If nothing else, it sounds like making “Screwface,” all parties involved had a lot of fun.
At the end of the day, it seems like fun is what the Acts of Mad Men series is all about: allowing artists to just go mad with their creativity and come up with new ways to have fun with rhythm and music. Volume two of the series, like volume one, is a great nod to the unifying factors in drum & bass rather than any differences, and hopefully bringing it into a new era of inclusiveness.
Acts of Mad Men volume 2 will drop on Viper Recordings on Friday, January 31. Click here to pre-save or pre-order on muliple platforms.