Artist: Lee Burridge & Dan F
Title: Treat Em Mean Keep Em Keen
Label: Almost Anonymous
By: Nick Williams | 5 December 2006
Tracklist:

• A: Treat 'Em Mean, Keep 'Em Keen
• B: Skiiiirt

Lee Burridge & Dan F "Treat Em Mean Keep Em Keen"

Traveling the world over nearly every week, Lee Burridge certainly knows how to keep himself busy. Almost Anonymous is his new baby, a label he initially created to promote and release some of his earlier works, such as 'Do You Smoke Pot?' and 'Why Are All The Pretty Ones Insane?'. Although it has been a while since Lee has lived in Hong Kong, he teams up with a current Hong Kong resident and fellow knob twiddler Dan F for the inaugural release to the label. They created the track way back in June of 2005 during a week long stay by Lee while he was touring Asia. And even though Dan prefers to work in his underwear and a string vest, Lee trudges it out and manages to create a track that has definitely stood the test of time.

Starting off as unassuming as Mr. Burridge himself, 'Treat 'Em Mean, Keep 'Em Keen' gets some heavy percussive compression into full gear with a hard, deep kick amid bouncy percussive elements and some icy, metallic swirls. A simple progression introduces throbbing bass tones, as our icy swirls gain momentum and presence. In the club this translates very well, considering the overall simplicity of the track. That is what strikes me immediately - there is nothing that is really that hard to comprehend, it is simply a great track to build the energy of your set. Just when it starts to get going, we are brought right back down into a bendy melody with subtle bassy kicks in the background. This is where the filth is brought with some incredibly mind bending ringing synth work and a new sinister bassline that will get the attention of your listeners. I will put my stamp of approval on that.

'Skiirt' brings a deeper minimal nature to this duo, yet still keeping the fun, funky nature that Lee's sets are known for. Deeply grooved bass, with chunky plodding beats really carry this track with no real melody to speak of. With lots of salt and pepper on the atmospheric sounds, and snappy percussion, we bounce along to this groove. The vocal edits are scary cool on this, with sounds coming out of nowhere, and along with the snappy percussion, they rise and fall together. The energy is kept constant here, and keeps me wanting more. This track, although not very dynamic, is a perfect transitional track into your floor killer. It has ominous and threatening nature perfect for keeping your floor in suspense.

For the notoriety that Lee Burridge has in the dance music community, it is really about time that he got back into creating music and this combination works very well for me. If this is any indication of things to come, I expect his label to really take off. Expect releases and remixes from the likes of Guy Gerber, Exercise One, and TG among some older gems from Lee Burridge. Vinyl lovers should also take note that this is not just another digital label. Expect the 12" at your local store in the near future.