Uitgebracht
November 2011
- "Atlantis," paced at a cool 118 BPM and pushed ahead by a steady hiss of hi-hats, might be the most straightforward thing Drew Lustman has done in a while, at least rhythmically speaking; it reminds me, at points, of Pepe Bradock and Isolee. But there's also a melancholic synthesizer lead straight outta Warp Records' 1994 roster and a muted breakbeat that turns up with a conspiratorial wink every now and then. And the structure is far less linear than we've come to expect from this kind of moody deep house, switching intermittently between the main four-bar chord progression and a luminous second set of chords.
"Can't Stop the Prophet," on the other hand, is the opposite of straightforward. Beginning with a tentative snatch of strings and bells, with echoes of RZA's Ghost Dog soundtrack, the beats evolve from tentative MPC taps into swaggering boom-bap, and then into full-on drum & bass. The real surprise is the source of the screwed vocal early in the track. I won't give it away, but to make that sound like this is remarkable.
"My Light, My Love" is the record's most unusual track, corralling scads of worn samples into a loping 6/4 time signature. Again, the color and timbre of the sounds reminds me of Pepe Bradock; so does the elegance. As busy as it is, it's never ungainly. Finally, with "The Sale Ends," Lustman returns to UK garage, a frequent stop on his stylistic tours. Compared to the tough, sharp-toothed cuts on last year's Phreqaflex EP, this one's smoother and shufflier, with feathery hi-hats doing most of the rhythmic work.
Tracklist A1 Atlantis
A2 Can't Stop the Prophet
B1 My Light, My Love
B2 The Sale Ends