[Cosmic Records]

It was 1996. The UK’s techno scene was reaching the tail end of its “golden” period. By 1998, the landscape would have changed irrevocably, with the one-note loop dullards dominating, flooding the scene with cheap knock-offs of Purposemaker’s dynamism. However, just as the lights started to fade, Steve Bicknell, the resident DJ and promoter at London techno mecca Lost stepped up with the Lost Recordings series (confusingly, on the Cosmic label). While Bicknell had put out material on Cosmic since the early 90’s and prior to that, in a pre-techno guise, had released rave lite for none other than Paul Oakenfold’s Perfecto label, he had only come close to the sound of “Why? & For Whom?” with 1994’s wild “No Hats Required” as The Evader. This release provides some insight into what Bicknell set out to achieve on “Why?,” but is more abstract and less dance floor focused.

“Why?” on the other hand, saw Bicknell beef up his approach; featuring eight untitled cuts, the record starts with the pummeling tribal beats on the two A side tracks, which ride insane filtered drops and builds. The B side offers some respite with the rippling bass on “B2” underpinning an irresistibly haunting chord sequence, but the accompanying “B1” is a dense workout laced with acrid 303 sequences. Bicknell really nails it on “C1” and “D2,” though; while the accompanying tracks on both sides were either slower and more reflective — the broken beats on “D1” hint at the warped techno Mulero, Surgeon and countless eastern European producers would explore — these tracks are fueled by booming shuffling beats, hails of hi-hats and granite-like tribal beats. While Bicknell continued to release music on Cosmic — it closed in 2005 — and still puts on Lost parties in London, it was always going to be difficult for him to emulate the murky, primal brilliance of “Why? & For Whom?” That DJs like Marcel Dettmann and Ben Klock still seek to emulate this record in their productions, 13 years after its release, says a lot about its landmark status.