Renegade Science – V/A | 254 Science and Research – Album Review

Album: Renegade Science

Artist: V/A | 254 Science and Research

Release Date:  July 5, 2025

Full disclosure: I’m into electronic music and ambient music is stitched into my bloodstream, but raves have never been my thing. I think like anything else in this culture, you get introduced to something at an early age with the wrong people in the wrong setting. Early exposure ruins things, and mine came in the Deep South. Which meant if you wanted to rave, you needed to pack yourself in an underground club with a lot of racist fucks. You pick your battles, you choose your settings. Mine was never going to be a warehouse in Georgia filled with frothing ravers screaming slurs between bass drops.

But that’s why I love Portland.

The rave culture here seems to breathe with a different set of lungs. Like with everything Portland, everyone seems to be on the same page. Most people here want to punch Nazis (a huge plus) and sweat it out on the dance floor, which is a great sentiment. But most of all, the raves I’ve heard about seem to be inclusive, with fully hydrated, smiling and radiant freaks who seem genetically altered for kindness and love. Or maybe I’m just falling victim like so many people who were formerly in narcissistic relationships and this basic kindness feels monumental. Okay, maybe I’m overthinking it. Anyway, I’m into the empathy and the openness of these folks here; and I also love the fact that people apologize if they bump into you too hard while dancing. I can’t explain why that’s such a nice feeling, it just is.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that Renegade Science embodies that vibe – at least for me. Renegade Science is a nice slice of Portland and a slice right through that embalming fluid that surrounds AmericaWorld or whatever is outside our little microcosm. This compilation builds a strange arsenal, some of it’s jagged and heavy, other parts bubble gum – but listening to this record is a perfect accompaniment to that sweat and those rattles in your chest and there’s also kindness in the way it’s delivered. What you get here is a lot of breakbeats and satisfying loops, but it carries the warmth of strangers handing each other water bottles on a crowded dance floor.

I usually shy away from reviewing compilations like I would a conventional album, because compilations feel like more of a showcase than a painting or something with a message. Renegade Science stitches together something that feels whole. A message not in words, but in feeling. Listening to it reminds me how big this scene actually is – bigger and more diverse than I guess I imagined. For me, the standout tracks are from jackson from online and PRYVYD but your mileage may vary. There is something for everyone on this album. Pouty’s Rage‘s track is a blast and of course Production Unit Xero sends us to that alien planet we all like to visit from time to time.

The album feels like community in motion: bubbly, slightly raw and alive. Put it on, sweat through it, and you’ll understand what it means to be surrounded by freaks who have to deal with parents who binge Friends on an endless loop instead of Gunsmoke. Godspeed, young warriors.