This is a reissue of the 2001 release “Hit It’, the one and only album by Demolition Squad, which became something of an underground legend during its short life. The record received a 9 of 10 rating from Alternative Press, matching the rating of Radiohead’s “Kid A” in that same issue. The reviewer described “Hit It” as “compelling, highly original material”. This project began when Jim Goetsch, who has been producing electronic music under the name Subversive Element, happened to run into a recent arrival from Japan, Kim Koschka. Goetsch mentioned to Koschka that he was trying to do music that had avant garde orchestra over massive beats and bass, which brought a laugh from Koschka, saying “Yeah, that’s what I’m trying to do too!”. So the work began with Goetsch laying down the basic tracks. Mick Harris’ Scorn was definitely the role model here, with Goetsch trying to conjure up the biggest beats he could with the Roland MC-303 and biggest bass he could with the Korg Prophecy. After adding sound layers with various other synths as well as samples pulled off a wide variety of sources, he then turned the tracks over to Koschka for the orchestra parts. Koschka’s incredible talents at virtual orchestra are what really distinguishes the record. Most people who hear this have no idea that it’s not a real orchestra. But beyond that, Koschka’s compositional skills are really what takes this work to the level it achieved. This composer’s studio was full of well-studied scores of the major 20th century composers, and it all shows on this record. A young English DJ residing in L.A. at the time, Luke Collins, was brought in for two tracks to add his unique turntable skills, dropping in more sound layers rather than more beats. Since this music was meant to be played LOUD, top Los Angeles engineer Bob Kearney was hired to to do the mixing, and the final mastering was done at one of L.A.’s top mastering houses. So the louder it’s played, the better it sounds. The final result of all this is an experience unlike anything else you have ever heard.