Slabs of robotic electro slide across the grooves of this record as it illustrates subdued fury in a 20-minute escape through time.
Hype; while in most cases is focused on overly saturating the market with ploys to sway its audience comes across as aggressive or ill-conceived most of the time. In the case of Scanone’s EP—produced on vinyl as a DR-styled picture disc of red, black and white—breaks the usual hype mold as its exterior shell deserves the attention mainstream media will likely ignore. Delivered as three tracks (for the vinyl edition) and a supporting Roel Funcken remix, Scanone slices robotic electro on the title track as a fierce “This is the sound” vocal drives through acidic rumbles and exfoliated bass. Roel Funcken turns “Gangsta Riddim” (a play on words—Gangsta Rid IDM) into a muddied dubstep sculpture; its bass-line twisted as the initial rhythm disconnects in the background. “Insider” offers up classic electro leanings—a darkened symphony veers above crisp snips, snaps and bleeps as high-energy analog distortions glue the elements together. “Utopia” closes on a more uplifting note—its brisk synth washes meander above beatless sheets of ice and dissipated groove. So as the hype machine internally splatters its message across a sea of onlookers buried underneath the surface, rest assured that this one is very much on-target.
Gangsta Riddim is available on Outside. Buy at Outside, Juno or Addictech.
