A strata of subterranean sound has been constructed, layers of ever more eclipsed electronics pull the listener ever further into the underworld mind-set of this Italian.
Lux Rec are extending their Winter holidays. Cosmo and Faber’s imprint are escaping the dreary post-Christmas months of Northern Europe with a prolonged stay In Italy. Following on from their recent visit to Rome with Lunar Lodge, Lux are traveling to catch up with label veteran Joe Drive. Since his appearance with Exoplanets in 2011 Mr Drive has been very productive, clocking up 12”s for the likes of Mathematics, 4Lux and Hotmix Records. The return to Lux is celebrated with The Buried Truth.
“New Edge Mantra” haunts into being. Softened samples combine with a tumbling rhythm for a shamanistic start. Bleeps are sent skyward, bubbles floating over broad bass. A thumping pulse arrives minutes in, halting the listener dreamy float into the ether. The track is strangely inviting and, in the same breath, unsettling. There’s definitely has something of a 90s Techno feel to it, echoes of UR bleeding with UK labels like New Electronica. That same burgeoning Detroit feel is carried into “Ancient Entropy.” Amidst warm chords and toms sits a more sinister side. Nightmarish analogue gashes violate and, eventually, mutilate behind cymbal crashes calling up memories of Traxx or J.T.C. A dark and developed piece. The rolling intensity of “The Program” ends the EP. A medley of bars and beats combine for a claustrophobic piece of post-House terror. Acid lines ghost through hallways of harrowing claps for a final toe curling episode.
The Buried Truth maps a development in Joe Drive’s music. The influences of Chicago are there, but are subsiding as Techno takes a greater hold. A strata of subterranean sound has been constructed, layers of ever more eclipsed electronics pull the listener ever further into the underworld mind-set of this Italian.
The Buried Truth is available on Lux Rec.
