Deep Into The Cut is an American reflection of what was happening in Europe, a mirror of the punk grime and electro terror of Europe. The album leaps out with its originality and rawness some twenty six years after it was first released. Despite the big name involved it’s more than passed the litmus test in my flat: constant rotation since arrival, rotation I have no doubt will continue for years to come.
I’ve sat in many the smoke filled studio with a question swirling in the blue haze: “How come that did so well?” or “How come I didn’t hear more about that?”
The answer is usually the same. Coverage and quality.
Deep Into The Cut suffered from the former. Surprisingly there seemed to be little mention amongst the faithful of the rebirth of this record. Why surprisingly? The progenitors of this double LP were Anthony Srock and Jeff Mills. Yup, Jeff Mills. He left the group to join Underground Resistance after the ’89 album on Final Effect Records. Wondering why you haven’t come across this release? As you should be.
The building blocks of Final Cut’s sound is techno. Keys knife and bass lines thump, back spins and scratch combining to give a live jam quality. Samples are a mainstay, most of which have a sinister slant, as in the horror hammers and the eerie electronics of “Open Your Eyes.” There’s an anger cutting through the album, a young male fury that rages in pieces like “Burn Baby Burn.” Other tracks are more playful, like the blipped and acid boiled “Now That’s Funky” or the New Beat adventures of “Harmony.” Industrial undercurrents permeate the LP. Abrasive rhythms, cracked chords and gritted gears are a standard, all reworked through a proto-techno filter, a burgeoning rave lense. But this isn’t dust masks and dilated pupils. This is substance. “Celestial VSU” melts, spiking synths stabbing warbling bars. And the LP just keeps giving. Each track growls in its own way until the last roar of “The Escape.”
Deep Into The Cut is an American reflection of what was happening in Europe, a mirror of the punk grime and electro terror of Europe. The album leaps out with its originality and rawness some twenty six years after it was first released. Despite the big name involved it’s more than passed the litmus test in my flat: constant rotation since arrival, rotation I have no doubt will continue for years to come. Fair play We Can Elude Control, fair play.
Deep Into The Cut is available on We Can Elude Control.
