Electro is a difficult beast to master. Allow too many sounds in and everything gets tainted. But, being too rigid makes it inflexible and susceptible to stagnation. Cultivated Electronics have been getting the mix just right for several years now. With a serious amount of subtlety this UK imprint has managed to find the equilibrium that electro needs, a certain amount of tradition with a twist of experimentation.
[Listen | Purchase] Electro has been hijacked over the years. The genre has been adapted into a sub title for any trite nonsense. The horrors of electroclash are example enough. Some labels have held fast to the moorings of electro. London based Cultivated Electronics is a good example of this. Since the imprint opened its doors it has been dedicated to keeping real electro alive. With steadfast compilation and releases by Silicon Scally and Alpha 606 it has been succeeding in its mission for some years now. For its latest outing CE has hooked up with UK based artist Scape One. After myriad of releases on the likes of Satamile, World Electric and Southern Outpost, Kurt Baggaley (aka Scape One) has carved out a more than respectful run of EP’s and LP’s .
Scape One opens his CE account with “Substorm.” The track builds along minimal electro structures, pared back sounds and a 4/4 beat. But, as the piece progresses a surreptitious complexity enters. This runs along the classic electro lines of Aux88 but holds some of the darker clinical notes of Urban Tribe. It is a piece that jolts and remodels itself, from sparse electro to quite a floor filler. The title piece, “Potent Mutagen,” is up next. The track emits arches of rich sound before computer tentacles and machine fingers gain control; dark and uplifting piece of electro and very clever. Like its predecessor, toying the lines of club and headphone. Dynarec is drafted in on remix duties as the Italian adds a sharp minimal dancefloor twist to “Substorm.” Wickedly clean and seductively sinister take on the original. Label boss Sync24 is next with his version of “Substorm.” A more aggressive edge is fitted to the original, with just a hint of audio submersion. This is full frontal assault, but within the tight parameters of classic electro; nothing is ever left astray from CE’s blueprints.
Electro is a difficult beast to master. Allow too many sounds in and everything gets tainted. But, being too rigid makes it inflexible and susceptible to stagnation. Cultivated Electronics have been getting the mix just right for several years now. With a serious amount of subtlety this UK imprint has managed to find the equilibrium that electro needs, a certain amount of tradition with a twist of experimentation. This is an imprint standing tall with other great contemporary electro units like Frustrated Funk, Transient Force and Stilleben (to name a handful) with their roster and quality expanding further with each release.
Potent Mutagen is out now on Cultivated Electronics. [Listen | Purchase]
CE008 Sampler by Cultivated Electronics
