F2X-P

Alfa One Seven continues to develop his personal fusion of jungle and hip hop on this, his (second?) full-length for the Base 9 label. As on his eponymous debut, with F2X-P he takes hard, minimalist drum'n'bass beats and pulls them into various unusual shapes, staying mostly in a fairly dark mood but not succumbing to the overbearing cliches of the genre. F2X-P features cameo appearances by several fine MCs, including MC ENO DNA (whose lilting speed-rap on "Jump.Spreadout.Mov" is one of the album's highlights), labelmate SP-12 and Bizzart. But the album's funnest moment comes on the aptly titled "Bring the Funk", which features some very impressive beatbox interludes by Anointed S. At times you wish Alfa One Seven would expand his ideas sonically a bit more — his grooves are tight but a bit spartan, and would sometimes benefit from a bit more density or textural elaboration. But there's a subtle elegance to the way he designs his beat environments and you often hear things on second listen that escaped you the first time through. That's about as reliable a test as there is for quality in drum'n'bass.