A corrosive, if not blistering foray into quality leftfield breakcore terrain.
Julien Chastagnol (also known as Ruby My Dear) shouldn’t be new to anyone that has delved head-first into the extreme electronic arena where refined mayhem is brought to life. We’ve covered previous releases here and now we see the multi-talented French artist continuing where he left off, this time with four pummeling tracks featured on the Balloon extended player for Kaometry—based in Berlin, Germany.
Cutting right to it, “No Smoke” seemingly parallels Autechre’s “Gantz Graf” (Warp, 2002) where esoteric, ricocheting beats pulse from all corners and chiseled jungle motifs ride above a sizzling underbelly. “Hat and Beard” offers a drill’n bass perspective of melodic rattling, fine-tuned and manipulated themes border on delicate shades of deconstructed electronic fury. “Nour” trail-blazes head-on into an erratic beat frenzy, speeding at 100-miles per Squarepusher hour and elevated with a tranquilized ambient undertone. Closing with “Peanuts Under Train,” a more direct drum’n bass manifesto of grimey contortions is revealed—video-game sequencing and heavy bass jabs are surrounded by ragga hues. Balloon is a corrosive, if not blistering foray into quality leftfield breakcore terrain.
Balloon is available on Kaometry.
