“Illegal Rave Tapes” is the first ever wax treatment for Acrelid, courtesy of Dance Data Records. Originally comprised of 134 tracks, this distilled collection is a snapshot of John Lee Richardson’s archive of music from between 1999-2012.

Since the ripe age of 12, he’s been drawing inspiration from the UK rave scene in the 90’s that he found himself in. That spark was the beginning of a lifelong obsession. He set out to capture the essence of what he felt and saw surrounding him during that time; whether it was via recording loops out of a playstation 1 to cassette / CD or borrowing any other gear he could get his hands on / that people would lend him.

What’s less important than all the gear he used are the sounds he captured with them. “Sinister beats” that all share a driving quality of rhythm, spanning across smudged influences from jungle to acid and the BBC Radiophonic Workshop transmissions. It’s clear from the tunes that this is someone who’s clocked 1000’s of hours tinkering and refining his sound, and who has squeezed every function out of his machines, just for the fun of it all. Having seldom released music since the 90’s, John’s been waiting for the right moment to share it with the world, and this collection has very much been worth the wait.