(04.13.07) Urban Tribe, aka Sherard Ingram, is one of the names of the Detroit techno
sound. As a collaborative movement of Carl Craig, Anthony Shakir, Kenny
Dixon Jr. and Ingram, usually just Ingram alone, Urban Tribe pounced onto
the music scene after their acclaimed Mo Wax album: The Collapse of Modern
Culture. Prior to this, Ingram was making a solo motor city sound with
releases such as Covert Action. Ingram was drafted into the Drexiyan army
in the first guard form of DJ Stingray before collaborating with James
Stinson in on the 2002 Clone release by Other People Place featuring Mystic
Tribe. Urban Tribe’s most recent outing, Acceptable Side Effects, followed
closely after Authorized Clinical Trials, came out on Rephlex where he
continued to develop his individual sense of minimal electro. Urban Tribe is
back, this time on the Austrian label TRUST with a four tracker entitled
Bio Electronics. TRUST recently released a 12″ by Clatterbox, but how
does the latest output on the Viennese label hold up?
The 12″ opens in similar style to Authorized Clinical Trials with
“Protein Coat.” The track dissects in with refracted acid sounds as sci fi
samples chill behind the synthesized curtains. An uneasy pace shifts while
angry beats burn and bubble. An unsettling and playful track shrouded in the
coldness of machines. Despite maintaining the laboratorial title,
“Diffraction Pattern” starts much warmer with surging analog rhythms. Ingram
moulds his minimal sound with lush synthlines in this track of edgy Detroit
music. A well conceived finish to the first side of the 12″.
The clinical samples are back with “Eukaryotic” but have been fed through
the robot. The warmth of the melodies in “Diffraction Pattern” is brought
into the B-Side. The synthlines are echoed with a computer feel that are
reminiscent of some Bochum Welt melodies. The beats are crisp, morphing into
a squelching tweaked medley of electro puddles. Ingram keeps the hazy
electro glow of the past two tracks into “Quantum Encryption” whilst
injecting some empty street techno into the mix. Reverberating tweaks
manipulate their way through rays of glimmering sound. The track writhes and
stretches from the bleak into the rich. A killer piece of electro to finish
the 12″ on.
Bio Electronics is a clear example of why Urban Tribe is so respected
amongst Motor City music enthusiasts. On first playing the EP, one would
think this four tracker is going to be a mirror of Authorized Clinical
Trials; but this is not the case. “Protein Coat” gives a taster to a side
of Ingram’s sound, but the remainder of the 12″ is an opening of something
new. Ingram has shown his skill and prowess in the realm of minimal electro,
creating warm (and new) tracks that any listener would put back onto the
technics again and again. With this, TRUST are proving themselves as a label
to watch for the future; an innovative European imprint with an eye for
quality electronic music.
Bio Electronics is out now on Trust. [Purchase]
