German producer Christoph de Babalon received an unexpected but well-deserved resurgence of interest when his 1997 cult classic debut, If You're Into It, I'm Out Of It, was reissued for the first time in 2018. Easily the best album Digital Hardcore Recordings ever released, the album's overwhelmingly bleak drones and punishing breakbeats stood apart from anything else happening at the time, and remain devastating over two decades later. Exquisite Angst is an LP collecting several tracks recorded around the same time as the album (1993-1998), most of which were eventually issued on a series of digital releases titled The Haunting Past of Christoph de Babalon. It's somewhat of a condensed version of the If You're Into It aesthetic -- there are no 15-minute drones, and it doesn't sink to the depths of despair achieved by tracks like "What You Call a Life" or "My Confession." Still, it feels like a highly cohesive outing rather than an outtakes collection, and it serves as a nice companion piece to the groundbreaking full-length. "Kirchengänger" is a classic dark jungle track, and many others expertly combine choppy breakbeats with swarming synth textures, sounding equally ominous and turbulent. "Are You Talking to Me?" is a stunning collision of pulsating electro spirals, thudding downtempo drums, and faster, more manic breakbeats. "Meditate" engages in similar slow/fast trickery, beginning with eerie choral loops, timpanis, and dub crashes, then introducing a lo-fi, bit-crunched breakbeat before hyperspeed jungle breaks take over. Like de Babalon's other recordings from the '90s, these tracks have aged well, and sound up to date in the wake of dark jungle excursions by artists like Pessimist and Demdike Stare. ~ Paul Simpson, Rovi

1		Gaseous Invertebrate
2		Kirchengänger
3		Realistic Riot Ritual Routine
4		Leave Me in the Autumn
5		Are You Talking to Me?
6		Alpenglühen
7		Marble Stairs
8		Meditate
9		Valediction

	Like us on Facebook
	@SoundHound	Follow