Central Processing Unit releases have all been logged in an eight-bit binary numbering system ever since the Sheffield label arrived on the scene with Cygnus’ 2012 LP Newmark Phase. With 256 variations allowed for in the binary catalogue, CPU now hit the halfway point more than a dozen years into their run. In that time the imprint has grown into one of the most celebrated voices in contemporary electro, its monochrome sleeve design reaching iconic status and early releases trading for big money in certain circles. As such, CPU128 Classics serves as both a victory lap and a line in the sand, a survey of some of the highs in the imprint’s discography and a second chance for CPU aficionados to get their hands on out-of-print material. And where else to begin but with a track from the very first CPU release? ‘Red District Girls’, a choice cut from Newmark Phase, is as perfect a scene-setter now as it was all those years ago. This is a number which brings the Drexciya sound into the present day, offsetting some whip-smart drum tracking and a grizzled synth bassline with brilliantly eerie keys higher in the mix. CPU’s reputation as a premier purveyor of modern machine-funk has been built on tracks like ‘Red District Girls’. This lineage is unsurprisingly well represented on CPU128 Classics. From DMX Krew’s clattering ‘Not Very’ to Jensen Interceptor’s gurgling ‘mActavis’, Mikron’s vroom-vrooming ‘Sleep Paralysis’ to the stentorian punch of MNLTH’s ‘Flektro’, CPU128 Classics is bursting full of mutated dancefloor tackle. It’s as true now as it was back in 2012 - if you’re looking for broken-beat 808s, sidewinder bass and synths which sound like they’ve been beamed in from deep space, then CPU is your go-to. However, just because the label is well-known for that particular sound doesn’t mean CPU128 lacks variation. Far from it - indeed, while post-Warp synth-work remains an overarching principle here, this collection demonstrates just how far the label casts its net in sonic terms. Take, for instance, more cerebral offerings like CN’s ‘Stellar Awakening’. The track still shares a clear point of origin with something like ‘Red District Girls’, but there’s an altogether more carefree feeling to this nugget of sun-kissed electro that sets the scene for another lane of CPU’s output, one of cerebral synth exploration indebted to ats like Boards of Canada. This is truer still on Mrs Jynx’s ‘Diving Loop’ - with softly keening synth pads offset by only faint pitter-patter drums, ‘Diving Loop’ is a beautiful piece of dawn chorus electronica which proves yet again that the robots have feelings too. While the final joint here, Microlith’s 2016 offering ‘Dance With Me’, is still forged on piston-precise drum programming and a cornucopia of bleep-bloop synths, the track’s uplifting bounce is a world away from the foreboding feeling of some of this record’s darker joints. As such, it’s a perfect way to close out CPU128 Classics, an album which celebrates Central Processing Unit’s past in order to look to the future. Here’s to 128 more.
