Futureshock

Inveterate remixers in the midst of England's busy dance scene, Futureshock came up in the fold of the country's most respected dance label, Junior Boys Own, home to Underworld and the Chemical Brothers. Formed by Birmingham natives Alex Tepper and Phil Dockerty, the act initially raised its profile with remixes of Moby and Chemical Brothers, as well as a co-writing job with Underworld on the single 'Question '. Tepper and Dockerty's label Fuju began putting out Futureshock material in 2000, led by 'Sparc', which popped up in sets from dozens of DJs including Carl Cox and Nick Warren.

The duo's first full-length album, 'Phantom Theory', appeared on Junior in March of 2003. Although a few of their methods lean uncomfortably close to Underworld [their labelmates on the respected JBO label], the duo of Phil Dockerty and Alex Tepper illustrate their reputation as handy producers to stock in a crate with a set of 12 able productions, each in a different bag. 'Another Hit' is a great example of the high-stepping British house track, 'Late at Night' an excellent twist on the typically detached, debauched electroclash production, and 'Kato's Revenge' a solid mid-tempo breaks track. The duo even jump on the post-club auto atmospherics of Dirty Vegas with 'On My Mind' and dip into minimal techno for 'Sparc' [and, yes, that's just the first half of Phantom Theory]. Setting to one side their schizophrenic production personality, their commitment to everyman dance music is hard to argue with.