It’s a strange one to hear a record where Drvg Cvltvre is the milder offering, but that is definitely the case here. His tracks are on the less fierce side of his sound, although the tempos are kept up. Inca Pax is the one thrashing the floor on here, serving up a septic smirk of savagery that is undoubtedly complimented by the more digestible works of Koreman.
I don’t follow cassette labels as closely as I should; New Year’s resolution in the making right there. If you’re willing to take the scary plunge they truly can offer up a wealth of new and exciting music. I say scary as there is just such a volume of them and once you get scouring there’s no telling where you’ll end up.
It was on one of these missions into the depths that I found Tutamen, a Bristol based imprint that has focused on tapes but is not taking its first steps into vinyl. With known and unknown names leaping from the fledgling platform they managed three cassettes in 2015. This year their vinyl cherry being was lost with Chupacabras, from Madrid’s Go Finger, and Brother Y for a 12” of lush electronics. The latest installment calls in a bigger gun, Drvg Cvltvre who is sharing space with Inca Pax for a much blacker brew.
Inca Pax is the boss of Tutamen and occupies the flip. A dark and tough sound is immediately laid down “Get A Copy Of The Deeds.” Percussion rages, claps and snare rolls hammer as a bassline grinds. The style being pursued is sludgy techno, melodies being sidelined as acid delays are tweaked into freakish forms. “Doldrums” is no less barbaric. Thump is cracked, caustic layers of distortion drenching everything. Machines growl and ultimately attack in this mad eyed industrial menace. Drvg Cvltvre’s offerings are tame in comparison, or tamed at least. “Flock of Starlings” judders with a central melting groove, clean snares keeping time. The track builds, develops, as what might be considered a “lighter side” emerges. “Watch The World Go Blind,” as the name might suggest, has that bit gloomier a countenance, drum patterns raining. But those harsh features soon dissolve. Soft, ephemeral notes surface through the hail to create a balance of body music and warming electro.
It’s a strange one to hear a record where Drvg Cvltvre is the milder offering, but that is definitely the case here. His tracks are on the less fierce side of his sound, although the tempos are kept up. Inca Pax is the one thrashing the floor on here, serving up a septic smirk of savagery that is undoubtedly complimented by the more digestible works of Koreman. A label that is measuring up nicely as its catalog develops.
Split EP is available on Tutamen.
