burial

Ghost Hardware

Respect must go out to all parties involved for keeping this twelve under wraps, the first new material from the Burial vaults made available on Hyperdub since the release of his seismic album debut about a year or so ago. Anticipation had already reached fever pitch since the label announced it was dropping a "mysterious twelve" in June, speculation has been rife and top of everyone's wish list was something, anything, from the most wanted underground producer in the world today. "Ghost Hardware" provides another blurry peek into the mind of a musician who is seemingly unable to write anything other than astonishing music, producing outside the box, beyond expectations, without recourse to generic templates. The squashed punch of the rhythm here is accentuated by layers of grinding bass and aquatic percussion, midnight rave styles in a 2-step signature with a mournful undertone that's almost at odds with the propulsive trajectory it holds onto throughout. Simply amazing music - honed for the darkest of dancefloors, neon-lit bedsits and the wide-angled vistas of continental festival stages at one and the same time - quite some achievement. "Shutta" opens the flipside with a distant rumble that gradually clarifies into a stripped Garage killer that's almost too good for words - the percussion bouncing through all four corners of an abandoned South London warehouse - clattering and panning, unravelling itself into oblivion while underpinned by another growling, weighty bassline and clipped sino stabs that open things up so wide you're left wondering where this guy gets his inspiration from. But for our money the best is saved till last - "Exit Woundz" creeps into life with another anxious spread of broken percussion and opaque vocal samples levelling the surface for the expected drop - yet things retain such a measured presence, a confident self restraint without obvious bass drops or anything even approaching a blueprint progression - that you wish other producers out there would stop trying to fit the mould and explored their own trajectories a bit more. But then, that's why this guy is truly a one off right?. If you're heading for the next level, here's your entry point. KILLER!!!!