Engaging and entrancing, Kennedy sets sounds running and moulds them. Like a piece of clay on a potter’s wheel, FBK shapes and curves his sound; damping snares when needed and adding bass.
Glasgow is a city for the electronic music fan, arguably it’s the Mecca. Artists from across globe play and DJ in Scotland’s largest city. With this comes a host of labels and homegrown talent. diametric. is a Glaswegian label set up by a non-native. Arne Weinberg has called the city on the Clyde his home for a number of years. Under the grey skies diametric. has delivered an array of quality music from the likes of Optic Nerve, Morphology and FBK. It is to Ohio’s FBK that diametric. returns for the latest outing. FBK, aka Kevin M. Kennedy, graced diametric. in 2010 with The Expert Escapist. Kennedy returns with the Antithesis EP.
“Where the World was Once” comes from the traditions of Deep Techno. Measured beats drive the track with softened sounds spiraling. The tempo is lowered for the moody notes of “Joy is Belief in Pain.” The melancholic title reflects the dark undercurrents running through this inchoate piece of Techno. The Detroit infusions continue with “Slip and the Lock.” The beats are solid but it is the shimmering, ever changing, melodies that entrance the listener. At times the record stems from Detroit, at others there are echoes of the UK 90s heyday. “Forget the Shame” brings light key touches together with a 4/4 energy. The track continues to hold the listener with its hypnotic depth. Subtle and understated; finishing as it began.
I’ve been living in Glasgow for three years now, and will be leaving it in three weeks. What has always amazed me is the pervasion, and quality, of Techno in the city. Weinberg’s diametric. is emblematic of the mechanical heart that exists here, and FBK’s Antithesis’ is a mirror image of it. Engaging and entrancing, Kennedy sets sounds running and moulds them. Like a piece of clay on a potter’s wheel, FBK shapes and curves his sound; damping snares when needed and adding bass. A piece of artisan Techno from a city famous for construction and electronic music.
Antithesis is available on diametric..
