Producer, rapper and CEO of seminal indie hip hop label Definitive Jux El-P, aka El-Producto or Jamie Meline, is well known in hip hop circles for his boundary pushing, eclectic style. Not content with following the latest trends, his style can often be described as unique, dark and tense, which his beginnings with Company Flow as a 17-year-old can attest to.

Their debut album Funcrusher Plus was hailed as an underground hit, and El-P has continued on that tradition, helming the lauded The Cold Vein by Cannibal Ox, as well as releasing four solo albums, including 2007’s I’ll Sleep When You’re Dead. After releasing the second in a series of mixtapes in 2008, he returns with part three, the instrumental collection of originals and remixes, Weareallgoingtoburninhell Megamixxx3.

Kicking off with Take You Out At The Ball Game, El-P employs an array of sonic and distorted sounds that leads into the strangely titled Whores: The Movie (something that would be interesting to see, given the futuristic nature of the track). Meanstreak (In 3 Parts) starts off as a down and dirty sounding number, before the drums kick in and liven things up a bit. But this is short-lived as the synths begin, and the track almost sounds like it’s heading into dubstep territory.

DSMC continues with the dark theme, the drums building up to a crescendo before slowing down almost to a grinding halt, before picking up again with beats reminiscent of military precision. Drunk With A Loaded Pistol has a bit more of a rock vibe to it, while Time Won’t Tell could easily fit into a modern Western. Secret Police Man’s Ball sees El-P trying his hand at the dubstep tip, and it’s actually one of the best tracks on the album; the gritty synths layered over a simple drum beat working really well together.

In the first of two remixes, Young Jeezy’s I Got This gets the El-P treatment, complete with synths, beeps and an odd assortment of sounds. It’s a far cry from the over-produced original and shows you just how unique El-P’s musical sensibility stretches.

Jump, Fence, Run, Live has an omnipotent feeling to it, like you’re being watched and/or chased by something unknown. Perhaps it’s the title of the track that initially conjured up these feelings, but one can’t help but feel stalked upon hearing it. I’m pretty sure El-P relised creating this feeling of unease and paranoia. He Hit Her So She Left starts off a little more bouncy, but there’s just something a little shady about it. This leads into El-P’s stripped-down remix of Kidz In The Hall’s Driving Down The Block, which leaves a dark impression.

Honda Redux features a repetitive, sped-up pulsating beat, which strangely reminds me of the score to ‘80s action flicks like The Terminator. How To Serve Man (Stripped) starts off a little more positive but turns into a slinky, sleazy and sexy number, kind of like that point in a movie where the femme fatale comes in and takes our hero for a ride. We round out with Eat My Garbage 2, a cacophony of sounds and interesting (albeit dark) beats, thrown together in a way that gives the feeling of disorientation. But then again, El-P doesn’t seem the type to want to make sense anyway.

It’s always hard when creating an instrumental album. Without lyrics, people’s attention span gets even shorter, which is why El-P keeps most of the tracks quite short (but also as an ode to J Dila’s Donuts). While I do prefer having vocals myself – especially since El-P has a very good flow – it probably wouldn’t work as well as it has without them. There’s a narrative quality to the music that is gained from simply reading the titles of the tracks and piecing it together like a jigsaw. It may take a couple of listens, but you start to get a feel for what El-P is trying to achieve.

The only annoying thing about the album are the constant reminders read out by a little kid telling you that “...you are listening to El-P’s Weareallgoingtoburninhell Megamixxx tape volume 3, goodbye poo poo heads”. I’m unsure as to whether it’s a copy protection thing or actually part of the mix, but after hearing it probably more than ten times throughout the album, I really wanted to punch that kid in the head. Regardless, this is a fine mix that easily fills the void between I’ll Sleep When You’re Dead and El-P’s new album, but could easily pass as a standalone record on its own merits.

Weareallgoingtoburninhell Megamixxx3 is out now on Gold Dust through Inertia.