Leaches – Turbulence
Beautifully carved metallic left-field techno three-tracker from London’s Leaches (real name Jack Reardon). This EP is an example of where a hardware rig can really take techno into more captivating territory. It’s a cliché to say that getting out-of-the-box makes music more “organic”–plenty of artists are capable of gorgeous, vibrant texture in a DAW–but there’s something to be said for the way machines (or instruments) invite both expression and experimentation. Maybe it’s the limitations they present versus the choice paralysis of working on the computer, or maybe it’s just simply that they force you to use a different part of your brain while working. In any event, Reardon seems to be benefiting from the machine spell. For as rigid as this is at first blush, it’s also delightfully liberated; it doesn’t give me that gauzy, sinus-plugging sensation that so much modern dark techno does. It doesn’t feel like navel-gazing techno, it feels free. No streaming here (for a change), but the EP is available on bandcamp on Power Station (a great label). I’m also including a track from Reardon’s previous self titled EP that I love; perfectly glitchy broken-beat techno.
Leaches – “Turbulence”
Leaches – “Mammoth”
1oftheothers – come and get it
In what’s shaping up to be a gritty edition of this feature, here’s a really fun bit of hi-NRG dark breakbeat from 1oftheothers, the new passion project from Danish electrohouse producer Mike Hawkins, who’s put out a ton of big records, but is probably best known for his collaborations with David Guetta (one of which earned him a Grammy nomination). But this project is totally different from his past work–it feels more like police getaway music, or what the soundtrack of a new Midnight Club game might sound like, or music that would fit the bloodstorm club scene in Blade (I think I reference that scene at least a few times a year on this blog). Whatever it is, it’s vital and rejuvenating. No bandcamp, but Hawkins was kind enough to let me post the mp3 here–you can find it for streaming wherever you do that.
1oftheothers – “come and get it”
Forbes Barclay Jr – Let’s Pop
More buzzy breakbeat up next, this time from Forbes Barclay Jr., a West London producer whose pseudonym is either an ironic wink at the growing corporate dominance in dance music over the past two decades or a bare exercise in manifesting success–maybe both? Probably more the former, but no shame either way, we all gotta make a living. His name aside, the track insists on the listener’s attention, with a near-constant buzz that sounds like the harmonics of the 50/60 Hz hum that generate when you touch the end of a TRS cable over a PA. The tone is so insistent it manages to become almost meditative at times, especially under dub sirens and ear candy that litter the track’s turnarounds. It took me a few listens, but I really came to like this one. No bandcamp for this either, so you’ll have to suffice with streaming, or this 192kbps mp3.
Forbes Barclay Jr – “Let’s Pop”