Artist: Rowan Blades & Chris Lake
Title: Malteser Geezer / Chemical Breaks
Label: Babylon Records
By: Jason Calvert | 20 January 2006
Tracklist:

• A: Malteser Geezer
• B: Chemical Breaks

Rowan Blades & Chris Lake "Malteser Geezer / Chemical Breaks"

Many will remember the duo of Breeder quite well. UK's Rowan Blades made up half of that duo, and here we see him teaming up with a name popping up on many releases lately: Chris Lake. "Malteser Geezer / Chemical Breaks" marks the 7th release for the relatively new Babylon Records, and is a welcoming addition to the catalogue. "Malteser Geezer" has been a highly sought after number ever since it was featured on Luke Fair's Bedrock Original Series compilation, and when coupled with "Chemical Breaks", the result is a well rounded and versatile release.

"Malteser Geezer" begins on a bouncing note, and is almost reminiscent of Steve Porter's sound. The atmosphere of the track is brought into the foreground with the introduction of an emotionally filtered piano melody. As this progresses into some lovely key changes, the whole composition shines, and is one of those feel-good tracks which, when played during the latter parts of a set, send the clubbers home with a huge grin on their faces.

Time to strip things back for "Chemical Breaks", as the mood is quite different to the flipside. As the name implies, the track is built upon breakbeat foundations, and takes on a journey which is darker in comparison to "Malteser Geezer". Instead of an emotional piano melody, we have gritty guitar-esque riffs which give the track a dirty groove. Certainly one to keep for those late night moments.

Babylon have certainly got a well-rounded release here, and two tracks which showcase vastly different atmospheres. Rowan Blades has obviously still got the touch, and Chris Lake is proving to be unstoppable as of late. Babylon's next release comes from Viton & Kosmas Epsilon, so stay tuned for more info about that!