Pressure Rise

Although vocal tracks become something of a theme within drum and bass throughout 2000, producer Jon Skinner proved himself somewhat ahead of the game with the output of his own Aspect label. A background in house and US influenced garage saw Skinner, together with fellow producer Ed Holmes, experienced keyboard player Ray Block juxtapose a strong melodic element against more heavyweight, club-suited productions and an array of accomplished female singers, which included Dominique Woolf, D-Empress, Kate Cameron and sisters Ginae and Michelle Escoffery. After a string of single releases which built grass roots support through flipping original songs with remixes commissioned from some of the movements leading producers that counted Bad Company, Konflict and Matrix amongst its number, the band dropped Focus, their debut longplayer, which continued the remix theme with re-licked versions from the above, in addition to Teebee and Bulletproof. In addition to leading an accomplished live line-up that included drummer Graham Cox, Rory Thompson on bass, guitarist Sean Wilkinson and an MC in the form of Ian Handy, Jon also writes material with Jenny Burrell as State of Play in addition to building up Aspect's sister label, Perspective. ~ Kingsley Marshall, All Music Guide