Search - Q-Burns Abstract Message, Orpheos, Sci-Fi Select :: Mephisto: San Francisco Plasmafunk, Vol. 1

Its name notwithstanding, there's nothing malevolent about San Francisco's Mephisto Records. Since 1994, the label has put out 12-inch after 12-inch that hew to the exacting standards of the underground dance scene while welcoming a larger audience. Rather than cater to a select circle of devotees, Mephisto has invited rave kids, bohemian intellectuals, house fans, and mildly adventurous yuppies to the same party. The yuppies are drawn to the languorous trip-hop beats that have become the rhythmic soundtrack of their cocktail socials. The house fans embrace the soulful diva vocals and thumping bass. The bohemians dig the witty disjunction of Afro-Caribbean percussion and prog-rock synthesizer washes. The rave kids recognize that the label's producers have perfected the unmistakable rise and fall of groove and tension that is the heartbeat of the dance floor. On this compilation Mephisto standard-bearers such as Orpheos, BMF, and Q-Burns Abstract Message offer 13 original tracks that strike a decidedly non-Faustian bargain between underground credibility and mass appeal. --Jeff Salamon