Bellicose Pacific, the first full-length from Emotional Joystick (a.k.a. Thomas Wincek), toes a strange line between melodic and chaotic. While tracks such as Eight” employ Wincek’s signature 8-bit sounds for a structured, almost pretty effect, others abrade the senses with spattered breakcore histrionics a la Venetian Snares or Squarepusher. (There’s even a jackhammer-on-the-blackboard track entitled “Rotterdam”). Bellicose Pacific is more thoughtful than a mere drill & bass exercise-most tracks meander between the two extremes, with lush strings and moody melodies advancing and retreating unexpectedly from the complicated drum patterns.