Posthuman's "Requiem For A Rave" is, as the title tells us, very explicitly a contribution to that thing that seems to be becoming a genre - "rave-nostalgia", which looks back at 90's rave music often with a forlorn air. The most famous example of that mood is Burial, whose desolate soundscapes are littered with broken beats, alienated synth lines and out-of-context disjointed classic rave samples. The overall impression you get from Burial is the feeling of being lost in the city in the rain after being kicked out of (or not admitted to) a rave.
One of my favourite tunes at a different end of the scale is "Rave Review" by Skism. That one is not forlorn at all. It builds a seriously intelligent reference-laden rave track around vocal samples of two famous dickheads (Henry Rollins and Tim Westwood) and their deeply dumb critiques of rave/dubstep. You can appreciate this track without understanding the references - it's a banging tune - in this instance you WERE admitted to the rave! But the reference-heavy sampling and the way he abuses Rollins/Westwood create a heavily sarcastic track, a glorification of dance music, a watertight proof that you don't need to be dumb to enjoy simple ecstatic music. A proof that it means something.
It's not the same as retro raving, i.e. simply recreating the sound. It's all reinterpreting and trying to come to terms with something. It fascinates me this "music about music", it can be dense with subtle references and reframings, which is something that classical musicians might talk of but seems incredible for seemingly simple-minded music without plot or (usually) lyrics.
Back to Requiem For A Rave. It's halfway between these poles. It loves to indulge in classic ravey sounds, but it also loves the soundscapey freedom to place them in un-dancey and sometimes disquieting combinations.
It wants to have its cake and eat it. There are lots of samples of rave MCs, pushed through cold reverbs to make them distant and foreign, and yet we also drop into chummy breaks and hang out with them. As a result, the album successfully renders a true nostalgia over rave: backwards-looking, inwards-looking - in the slightly pathetic manner of all nostalgia - whereas Burial is more open to the coldness of the world outside.
The closing track from Posthuman even brings in a vocal line beginning "Take me back, to when you and me were happy"... It's probably not going to win over many people for who the nostalgia doesn't ring so strongly. Sonically, it's not as deep, layered or interesting as Burial or Skism. "A love letter to our teenage selves", as Posthuman say themselves on their Bandcamp page. I don't think any of our teenage selves expected this genre.