Nero / Futurebound Feat. Shock One – Acts Of Mad Men Pt. 2

Nero / Futurebound feat. Shock One – Acts Of Mad Men Pt. 2

A superb late-2000s Viper Recordings 12", Acts Of Mad Men Pt. 2 brings together Nero and Futurebound featuring ShockOne for two highly regarded dancefloor drum & bass cuts. Released on Viper Recordings as VPR021 in September 2009, it was the second instalment in the label's four-part Acts Of Mad Men series, a project curated by Futurebound to showcase some of the most exciting producers emerging around the Viper sound.

The A-side, ** Do You Wanna **, comes from Nero during the duo's formative years, several years before their breakthrough album Welcome Reality. Driven by a catchy groove, heavyweight bass and polished electronic production, the track demonstrates the melodic but hard-hitting approach that would become central to Nero's later sound. The track was also selected by Futurebound for the subsequent Acts Of Mad Men compilation, where it appears alongside productions from Camo & Krooked, Sigma, ShockOne, Metrik, DC Breaks and Delta Heavy.

On the AA side, ** Tonic ** is a Futurebound production featuring Australian drum & bass producer ShockOne. The track combines rolling drums, powerful bass and a strong melodic sensibility, fitting perfectly with the big, polished dancefloor sound that defined Viper Recordings during this period. Tonic subsequently appeared on the full Acts Of Mad Men album and remained part of Futurebound's DJ mix repertoire.

The release is particularly interesting in retrospect, capturing a moment when Viper Recordings was developing into one of the leading labels for melodic, technically polished drum & bass. The Acts Of Mad Men project featured artists including Nero, ShockOne, Sigma, Camo & Krooked, Metrik, DC Breaks and Delta Heavy, with the resulting album helping establish Viper firmly within the upper tier of the international drum & bass scene.

For collectors of Viper Recordings, Nero, Futurebound, ShockOne and 2000s dancefloor drum & bass, Acts Of Mad Men Pt. 2 is a particularly useful piece of the label's early catalogue. Two heavyweight productions, one from Nero and one from Futurebound with ShockOne, make this a strong DJ-friendly 12" and a great snapshot of the sound that was pushing drum & bass towards increasingly melodic and crossover-friendly territory.

Tracklist

Side A

1. Nero – Do You Wanna

Side AA

1. Futurebound feat. Shock One – Tonic