Machinedrum is a busy boy. When not producing future techno as half of Sepalcure or gallivanting with Jimmy Edgar under their JETS moniker he is producing under his solo alias, serving up an almost impossible to pin down blend of garage, industrial techno and dubstep – but to even try to pigeonhole this album is not only hard, its also doing it a disservice.
Opener ‘Gunshotta’ is quite simply everything that is great about 2013 electronic music. It draws influence from right across the spectrum as elements of dubstep, drum and bass, techno, house, jungle and garage are all blended together – but at the same time it pledges its allegiance to none of them. The vocal sample is hugely melancholic and creates that uneasy feeling that keeps the listener on edge throughout. A truly compelling listen and is easy to see why its being released as the lead single. It could work in a club, it can work at home or indeed on your headphones. Its a soundtrack to those bleak days in the heart of the city.
After that breakneck start its on to a simply beautiful piano key sample to kick off ‘Infinite Us’ before a speedy drum beat is brought into play creating a wonderful juxtaposition of seemingly contrasting styles that are somehow held together in a quite sublime fashion. At the high point of the track there’s so much going on at such a high tempo your brain might find it hard to keep up! The outro is particularly compelling, leaving the listener in a dream state with lush keys that leave you wanting to drift off.
After ‘Gunshotta’ another key club track comes in the shape of ‘Dont1 2 Lose U’ with its garage beat mixed up with acid house style keys, as well as ‘Eyesdontlie’ with its drum n bass tempo, creepy vocal sample and epic breakdown. The sheer fact that these two would likely be played at totally different clubs altogether is testament to the wide ranging influences and production style on show that keeps the listener firmly on their toes and ensure that there’s never a dull moment across the record as a whole.
Whilst the album contains some excellent club style tracks, these are by no means the be all and end all which is what makes the work hang together so well and ensures it works as a cohesive electronic full length. Some of the more interesting non club tracks come in the shape of extended interludes and dreamscape style beats as seen in ‘Vizion’ and ‘SeeSea’ respectively where the listener is taken away on a journey to far away lands and sunnier, calmer climes – yet all delivered within the warped sample based style that we come to expect from Machinedrum.
The most impressive aspect of the record as a whole, other than the way it hangs together so well, is the intricacy and detail that seems to have gone into every beat. There is so much going on at any one time in a great many layers that the arrangement must have taken unimaginable amounts of time and energy to perfect. This is not a record for laptop speakers and demands to be listened to on the best quality sound output you have in order to get the best listening experience. Headphones or your Hi fi is the only way to get a real handle on the music in the way that the producer obviously intended it. Of course this goes for any record but particularly one of this level of intricacy. I would love to hear this in full on a audiophile system as I’m certain it would blow minds!
If you’re a fan of modern electronica such as The Field or Pantha Du Prince – or even harder bass driven stuff like Zomby or stuff on Scuba‘s Hotflush label you are very likely to find something to love about this record. It more than warrants anyone’s attention.
Vapor City was released earlier this month on Ninja Tune and can be found in all good record stores as well as online here
7bitarcade - Archive 