Random – “Too Stoned to Sneeze Without ” – [Evil Teen Records]

Random is the latest incarnation for San Francisco’s Jon Drukman (aka Bass Kittens, Skeptix, and Spinyl). Jon has been around the SF rave scene for many years, collaborating with the Hardkiss Brothers on their earliest (and best) records. Here he tries on his drum’n'bass hat, and the result is a CD of many textures and tempos. Just like peanut butter, it’s sometimes crunchy and sometimes smooth. Meat Beat Manifesto is an obvious reference point, as these tracks are constructed as much for the headphones as they are for the dancefloor. A fine domestic drum’n'bass CD to hold up against the continual deluge of imports.