One can only assume Ethiopia’s gone downhill. The country that gave the world brewed coffee, which along with a nice fag, inspires most of the planet to function on a day-to-day basis provided the inspiration for producers Richard Russell (XL head honcho) and Rodaidh McDonald (The XX, King Klute) to put together this EP from visits to Harar and Addis Ababa. After meeting with local musicians, they recorded back in London, and it transpires that from a trip to this vibrant country they….recorded a couple of chanty vocal lines, stuck them on loops, and bolted them under very bog standard electro-squelch on ‘Harar’ and ‘Modern Approach’…hmm……African Enigma. Woop. Abandoning any African instrumentation, it’s hard to tell what they took from the visit  - melody lines, perhaps? Rhythms? Fuck knows. It’s impossible to tell on ’68 Joint’, which is dubby, and not unpleasant, but given it’s all done on synths, those not up on trad Ethiopian beat structures and phrasings (me) don’t have a scooby. Again, there’s little trace of Africanism on closer ‘Adaji Legit’, although it is the best track here – swirly 16-bit that might come off Hyperdub’s bench to make up the numbers as a reasonable comp filler; a Gareth Barry of a track, if you will – and for all the Ethiopian influence on board, certainly not worth the carbon emissions of the flight.