Ghetto rave. Hard breaks. Acid waves. Noise techno. Braindance united. If any of those phrases made your pupils dilate, Tripalium Corp already has you.
The Brittany-based collective has been one of the most gleefully anarchic presences in the European underground since its inception; operating across sublabels including Acid Avengers, Tripalium Rave Series, and Disturbed Mutant Series, hosting a Rinse France show, and releasing music with the kind of frequency and irreverence that suggests they simply cannot help themselves.
Fucked-Up Squad vol. 6 is the sixth instalment of their flagship VA series, launched in 2023 and going strong. We’ve been gagging to review this one since it landed in our inbox a few weeks back.
Our journey begins with the stunning ambience of Machka's Noise 11%; shimmering synths and sustained organ refrains that build with deceptive calm before dextrous breakbeats arrive and synths pitch-bend their way into the stratosphere.
Ina Di Loop's Tout Roule Pour Moi makes it all about the bottom end next; a busy footwork romp with hyperactive breaks skittering throughout alongside a repeating vocal motif that lodges itself firmly in the brain.
Paradise777's Summer Bloom goes full-on jungle warper despite the misleadingly saccharine title. At just under three minutes it is the shortest track on the album, compensating with dark-edged energy that collides gloriously with glitteringly light interludes. A masterclass in juxtaposition.
DJ LM$ instructs us to Drop That Shit next, and who are we to argue? A fiendishly dark ghetto-bass bruckout that segues perfectly into the doomy techno of Fro's That's the Devil's Mind; a track that tips its hat firmly to the club-ready sonic weaponry of Vitalic's La Rock era.
darkitecture's EBM-adjacent Solip then loads the soundstage with nightmarish industrial electronics that slam directly through your skull; a goading vocal and actual sobbing samples completing the picture. The perfect track for pissing mothers off globally.
Rave plus breaks equals 7ip7o3's Dexter's Laboratory; brimming with light-speed momentum and insanely ravey breaks in absolute abundance. A cracking end to the first half. Shuv dominates the album's mid-section with heaving bass before lurching headlong into hardcore jungle territory for a full rush up the nervous system.
Chuggy techno offers welcome relief as Dee Lali slumps in with Modular 2001; a gloopy, dubby number that simmers the mood beautifully. A-Sim's hazy electro of Sunday Morning continues the laid-back approach to the album's second half.
Not for long! Ha! The rungleclotted junglist mayhem of Dju:n's Razor Amen levels the ground entirely; a dark as fuck excursion that absolutely does its title justice. Fobos Hailey's Slam Jam is equally representative of its nomenclature; an acid techno boiler that delivers momentum in spades, with a rap motif we absolutely love.
Dike Disko doesn't just Break the Drop; they smash it into a billion tiny smithereens with a breaksy big-room feel that leaves no survivors. Penultimate track Dancing Together by Unstable Tone then pours an entire larder of sonic ingredients into the mix for a euphoric jungle number that earns every second of its runtime.
The appropriately named Fckn Psycho steps up for the finale with Fogo; Portuguese for ‘fire’, and every bit as combustible as the name suggests. A genuinely sizzling techno closer that rounds out one of the most wilfully unhinged compilations we've had the pleasure of covering.
Tripalium Fucked-Up Squad vol. 6 is out now on Tripalium Corp. Grab it on Bandcamp.