IainRedley once aspired to be a producer of exquisite electronic music, but having failed completely at that, he now feeds his remorse with the cheap criticism of others. 
Wikipedia tells us that Daedelus is a skilful craftsman and artisan of Greek mythology, whereas ‘Bespoke’ tells us he’s an LA based, patience-testing butcher of sound. Despite sharing the same eccentric, dizzy distinctiveness of his previous album; ‘Love To Make Music To’, this is an entirely different kettle of slightly deranged fish. His obsession with antiquated tailoring possibly taking him in slightly the wrong direction; this at times sounding like House of Elliot re-edited by a profoundly deaf and belligerent ADHD sufferer. It’s an effort to endure. Any melody, riff or hook of substance allowed to emerge is systematically smothered by a mishmash riot of studio buffoonery; indeed some potentially intriguing vocal pieces are completely lost in the tumult. Large portions seem very oddly reverbed, EQ’d and layered giving the impression of living in flat sandwiched between two rival nightclubs. Almost unlistenable in parts it verges on aural torture; the musical equivalent of waterboarding…in fact I’m sure this album contravenes the Geneva convention. Thank Christ it’s only 42 minutes long!
As busy as a Moog beaver, it’s a wonder Dorian Concept has had time to release any kind of EP let alone an absolute blinder such as ‘Her Tears Taste Like Pears’. Not content with a standout track on Ninja Tune’s anniversary boxset and respective XX gigs, keys for Flying Lotus and even a wee stint with a string section at the Royal Albert Hall, this particular Ninja-slag brings us a crisp little package of non-linear expanding synth fractals. Mr. Concept proves himself yet again to be something of a wizard, prodigiously sculpting empathic warmth from fundamentally cold and jaggy sounds. The only thing to dislike here is how empty it makes you feel when you realise you’re going to have to wait to hear more from this unique talent in electronic music. More please, now!
Ever been psychically beamed into a tailoring convention/carnival via the filter of someone else’s drug-induced nightmare? Me neither, however Daedelus’s new EP ‘Tailor-Made’ takes you pretty close. It’s sonically overwhelming and structurally complex and as a result, somewhat difficult to engage with; you’re certainly not going to be humming it as you take the rubbish out to the wheelie bin. The TOKiMONSTA remix, by stark contrast, is a narcotically down-tempo and much more salubrious affair; still richly textured, but marshalled by plush, dub-heavy beats. Clearly aimed as more of a taster of what we can expect from the new forthcoming album rather than an out-and-out single, it perhaps needs to lie within the context of an album to give it a bit of definition and perspective; it’s almost completely lost in its own bewildering gusto.
French duo Cassius get the Skream treatment on their latest release. “I loved you so, but why I loved you, I’ll never know” plaintively laments the Sandra Richardson sample, and it’s odd since this is exactly how you’ll feel about this track. The untouched version manages to create a melancholy, epic soundscape but it never quite shifts up a gear (it’s like one of those tunes you get towards the end of the night, that through a drunken stupor make you dance like you’ve shit yourself). It almost feels like an extended intro for the predictably marvellous Skream remix, with its rave-keys and brutal old-school beatloop – elemental and raw – ultimately stealing the show. So, mildly resembling an equation, it’s no surprise that ‘I<3 U So’ is somewhat formulaic.; but what a formula! Paradoxically stunning, pure rave joy.
From its gaping maw: “Feed Me!” demands this tantalising release from Deadmau5’s Mau5trap label (that guy really needs to get his keyboard fixed). With a deviant foray into charged house, ‘Feed Me (DnB’s Spor)’s Big Adventure’ is a frenetic stramash of rubbery acrid synths, lurid spandex-clad beats and ferocious basslines. Typically excellent track ‘Silicone Lube’, for example, doing what it says on the tin; permitting a blue-veined shaft of bass to rhythmically plunge into tight glistening folds of 8-bit digital flesh. Delightful.
Herr Styler (see what they’ve done there) spill a glut of remixes over their ‘Double Sided Paper’. What promisingly starts as camp, discoed posturing quickly becomes just bloody annoying. Clichéd electronic clubby snippets are padded and pumped to bursting point with grating samples, pitch-shifted piss, and floppy flanger passes; wailing horns and synth-twisted vocals conjure images of some children’s quiz show final round tension builder. Other than that, it’s mostly flavourless digi-bashing and noisy crap.
Sunday Best – ‘Increase The Peace Volume 4′ (on Sunday Best) from Rob da Bank’s Sunday Best comes a budget sampler of the label’s newest and finest. He of ponytail; odd of accent (plus chums), ‘Increases The Peace’ with a heady blend of gritty, shiny and synthy bouncers. Tracks such as Lemonade’s ‘Bliss Out’ and Trenchman’s ‘Hacienda’, represent the clubbier strata; exploring a more chilled sub-bass direction. ‘Sick Tonight’ deploys some obligatory dub as Scroobius Pip and Dan Le Sac pinch off a bass loaf with a typically vitriolic wince (courtesy of a Doctor P remix), then proceed to have a rant about music snobbery (of course, it’s beneath me to comment on such trite drivel… ahem). Max Sedgley’s ‘Slowly’ gets the Hot Chip midas touch and wedged in amongst some electro-pop is the superb Nice Up! remixed, rude-boy roller; ‘Ganja’. This taster compilation’s eclecticism and cut price make it an almost essential purchase for those wanting a reasonably satisfying cross-section of counter-culture cool.
‘Art Supplies’ (well at least he aims to), a delicious suffusion of jazzy beats and lounge-ready cool. Art Bleek’s latest album immediately creates an elegant, rich and languid sound oozing with a certain treacly cadence. Crisp snatches of beat smoothly slip over lubed up basses and pornographic saxophones; a concession to lyrical content is made by way of staccato beat poetry and sultry havering. So far so good, but when you consider other people do this kind of thing so much better (Jazzanova, Cinematic Orchestra etc.) and with so much more heart, you’ve left a bit cold. This is undoubtedly a sumptuous and beautifully produced album, but it’s probably not going to have you in raptures; you’re not going to fall in love with it. Ultimately, it’s a passionless but cleanly delivered fistful of jazz (like Gilles Peterson having a posh wank, one supposes).
Think fingernails on blackboards…drowned Japanese girls crawling out of televisions. ‘The Disaro Compilation’ from ISvΦL† is certainly a cheery little number; that is, of course, if you’re into pentagrams, goats’ heads and candle wax on your testes. Blow the sacrificial bloodied chicken feathers off your decks; go on, give it a spin – don’t listen by yourself, mind you – and you can “enjoy” Friday 13th gore-spattering death-synths gutting you through dark, nightmarish brain-molesting. Electro for Goths: evilish but mostly harmless (like Moby committing a knife crime). The tracks and artists all have suitably demonic / cryptic / runic names which at the very least will test iTunes’ character mapping abilities. They’re creepy bastards the lot of them, but oddly compelling. Not one for the office party.
Hospital heavyweight super-nepotistic collaboration; Nu:Logic (aka Nu:Tone and Logistics, aka brothers Dan and Matt Gresham) show us that their ‘New Technique’s’ almost as good as the old one. In contrast to Danny Byrd’s rave flavoured DayGlo appropriation, these tracks feel much more authentic, honest and visceral: ‘New Technique’ is a manic, mind pummelling joy; Sundown – Amen drenched yet pared down, with shades of Photek’s deceptively intricate minimalism – is savagely beautiful. To today’s new generation of drum and bass ears; the post-junglist passive massive, this EP may merely come across as a palatable history lesson, but to the more sophisticated heads, this is achingly good; drum and bass DNA with the intensity and purity of Old School, transcending nostalgia. The future is Old School -“Can I have an Amen?!”.
