When they first hit the underground scene, the Pixies were like an exotic drink that hid its sweetness behind a ferocious bite. The album's production is like a crude explosion: every strum and clang comes down with the subtlety of a sledgehammer. English and Spanish lyrics collide as singer Black Francis (later Frank Black) shouts in a hoarse monotone and Mrs. John Murphy (later Kim Deal of the Breeders) backs him up with throaty wails. Yet somehow the clash of these bruising titans makes for tracks that print indelibly upon your consciousness--once let in. Kurt Cobain is their most famous student. He grafted the Pixies' time-honored craft of the big bang theory onto Nirvana's biggest hits. (You start with a quiet verse and then explode for catharsis in the chorus--evidenced best here with "I've Been Fired.") The Pixies themselves have served quietly, attaining post-punk godfather status not by tooting their own horns, but through the praise of a steady stream of genuflecting admirers whose word of mouth continues to increase the band's deserved critical standing. --Rob O'Connor

Fiona Apple McAfee-Maggart (born September 13, 1977) is an American singer-songwriter, pianist, and poet. An eight-time Grammy Award nominee and one-time winner, her albums have reached the top five on the U.S. chart in four consecutive decades.

The story goes that the bassline on this one was so deep the mastering engineer had a problem cutting it! The bassline powers the tune perfectly as the plunging kick drums and dancing synths get you moving your body. Perfectly deployed vocals bring heart-aching soul as this most warm and dubby cut drowns you in timeless deep techno. Next to the gorgeous original mix is an extended dub for even more drawn-out late-night dance floor pleasures, pure classic.



Reviews:

"You’ll struggle to find many better ‘bleep and bass’ releases than Ability II’s Pressure EP. It’s perhaps not as well known as the records that defined the style – think Unique 3’s “The Theme”, Forgemasters’ “Track With No Name”, Nightmares on Wax’s “Dextrous”, Sweet Exorcist’s “Testone” and LFO’s peerless “LFO” – but it’s rightly regarded as one of the sound’s seminal releases." - Matt Anniss, Innate



"The story goes that the bassline on this one was so deep the mastering engineer had a problem cutting it. There is no evidence of it on this reissue though - that bassline powers the tune perfectly as the plunging kick drums and dancing synths get you moving your body. Perfectly deployed vocals bring heart-aching soul as this most warm and dubby cut drowns you in timeless deep techno. Next to the gorgeous original mix is an extended dub for even more drawn-out late-night dance floor pleasures." - Juno records



"Pressure Dub" : beautiful floating dubby megadeep-house wandering, with seemingly random pads, echoes, liquid voice snippets bursting in and fading out...Like a cosmic jam-session, this could be an electronic dance music equivalent to jazz (in spirit) as improvised music around a loose but harmonious structure. Lasts about 10 minutes, could be double, triple or forever...classic here people!" - Discogs