Brandishing jagged edges of House, Rogers saws even further, the UK artist contaminating and poisoning with a brutalised version of the sound. Toughened and tight from Perseus Traxx.
Nigel Rogers (aka Perseus Traxx) has a terrifying output. The UK artist, releasing for just over three years, has clocked up a dizzying number of 12”s on imprints like Bunker, M>O>S, Chiwax, Photic Fields and his own Future Flash label. For his latest the York based House aficionado is hooking up with Newcastle’s Flight Recorder for Goddesses of Inspiration.
Across four tracks Roger’s offers up a generous thirty minutes of music. “Calliope (The Muse Of Epic Poetry)” sets sail, waves of compressed snare and beat lapping against the hull. Lines lift above the curling claps, basslines burble as skewed synths foam and heave in this weaving work of bruised Chicago. A 4/4 brings the listener back to land with “Clio (The Muse Of History).” But don’t get too comfortable. Beats bully for superiority whilst a stalker melody builds, chords ducking and diving under the barrage of rhythmic programming. Rogers’ Muses, or Bases, have something of a sadistic disposition, pain-riddled machine cuts pouring forth with a raw throat and even courser sound. “Melpomene (The Muse Of Tragedy)” is bleary eyed battery. Melodies fumble and squawk under pressure from oscillators and that ever forceful 707. Think along the lines of Traxx or Hieroglyphic Being with a hangover and you’re getting there. The finale, “Thalia (The Muse Of Comedy And Pastoral Poetry),” is the least caustic of the quartet. Rogers playfully builds layers of melody, again with a decent dosage of distortion, for a peculiar carousel of sound.
Over the years House, as a genre, has been tugged at from a number of sides. Some want to smooth it out, deepen it, slow it down, round it off and make it a more palatable potion. Perseus Traxx is from the other side. Brandishing jagged edges, Rogers saws even further, the UK artist contaminating and poisoning with a brutalized version of the sound. Toughened and tight from Perseus Traxx. Not, and never has been, for the faint hearted.
Goddesses of Inspiration is available on Flight Recorder.
