Glasgow boys Crawford Tait and Gregor Reid cough up some twisted summery lounge disco on the A-side of this 10-inch. On the flip, their mellow tune “Lost” gets tweaked into Steve Reich-ish repetition by Pedro and floated into eerie psych-folk land by Fort Lauderdale. A trip and a half.
Safety Scissors Vs. Kit Klayton Ping Pong
In amongst the intriguing found sounds and mysterious aural detritus that comprise the majority of this release’s 36 tracks (starring those lovely little white plastic orbs), Messrs Clayton and Curry sprinkle together Resident-ish blends of scraped electric guitar, whooming and plinky synths, kicked rhythm machines, occasional vocals and other awkward little surprises. Dippy, dorky fun from the masters.
Optic Nerve Teleportation EP
Keith Tucker reinvigorated Detroit techno in the ’90s via the militant electro of his former group Aux 88. His mission continues on these three dystopian snapshots. “When Aliens Call” crackles rhythmic lightning over telecomm seas, while “Back From the Future” and “DeepSpace” pay tribute to Detroit and Juan Atkins, respectively. Encore!
Cyborg 1 Shockwave
Only need a guess or two as to Cyborg’s identity, but this slab isn’t anything to die for. Although it features nicely organic beats, the A-side’s a touch redundant. And while the flip’s “Roughneck” twinges some nerves with its ragga sample and its varied keys, its similarly a bit tracky. Useful, probably, though not decapitating.
Various Artists Creepy Remixes
Creepy, a gothic-minded indie hip-hop-soul tune by a group called Emaculate D’ception, gets three diverse San Francisco re-rubs. Drum & bass stars Westside Chemical and UFO! bring a slow, well-constructed ether-beat mix; de Giere gives it a funky digital shredding; and Drunkin Unkelz swing expert Wu-Tang-ish paranoia-hop. A very promising debut from the Volta
Billy Dalessandro Dark Matter EP
Chicago’s Dalessandro draws on his early-’90s tech and acid roots with taste and restraint. The cavernous title track scratches at the dubby atmosphere with raw synth stabs, while the flipside tracks pop tighter and a bit more vertically. Understated and gutsy.
Geche Moonface
Britisher James Drabble hands over another in Statra’s impressive Statravel series of 12-inches. The somatic dub title track fully utilizes singer Sarah Ellis’s chanty vocals, while rhythmic bits like “Melt” and “Lana” use found sound and chaotic editing to spice up the varied tempos. Ready for more from this guy.
Bill Payer & Fat Hippy Salt Rocker
Liverpool’s Dirty Blue goes thumping and hypnotic 3AM-style here, as producers Andy Winrow and Simon McCormick take you into endless track-land. The title cut hoovers a reggae chord and dread vocal samples in space while the thump below runs easy and wild á la Swayzak. The flip’s “Stranded” goes all opaque and urban-aboriginal percussive. The next school is in session.
Loes Lee Ash
Amsterdam’s Lee (who runs the Moving Target label) laces a minimal-yet-propulsive funky thumper for Berlin’s ascending breakbeat imprint Dangerous Drums that bumps with tight bass and flanged chords. Britain’s Spoon Wizard rolls some tight scratches and arrangements on his old-skoolin’ electro-riffic Cutlery mix. Excellent breaks drama for that ass.
Various Artists Fear001ep
On the A-side fo this first from Dublin’s Fear label, Deasy presents “Haul,” all sweet synth tones and shifting machine rhythms touching a bit on Squarepusher territory. On the flip, Droid + Slug’s quietly spastic and quick “Polyp” gets a slightly Kraftwerkian funk remix by the DJ duo Ambulance. Very promising stuff.
