- If you don't remember the name Rivet, cast your mind back to Scuba's DJ-Kicks compilation: The masked producer (yes, another one) had two tracks on there. Both slotted into the final half of the mix, offering tough, refined techno in the vein of Skudge. However, as we discovered with February's "Inside Looking Out," Rivet is also capable of tenderness. Amid the Roar―his third 12-inch―carries an example of both blueprints, sandwiching a salient remix from Marcel Fengler between them. It's the punishing bit that comes first, with "Metrist" taking out the A-side. Using a growling low-end and jittery blasts of synth, it conveys a fraught, stumbling rhythm. Essentially, however, the track's "moment" is its unusual breakdown. Rejecting the established mood, a series of heavenly chords are slowly made audible and float serenely over the pounding beats before suddenly disappearing again.
In contrast, Fengler's "Redefinition" is far more fluid, racing forward with the cadence of a speed skater. Its percussive elements are particularly superb, with 4/4 claps and a frantic shaker propelling things powerfully forward. He too uses the trick with the transcendent chords, though this time, there's nothing close to a diminishing of intensity to stop and admire them.
Constructed with a swaying drone, "Sleepwalker"'s bassline has a woozy, narcotic quality and the apple-crunchy, two-step percs play subtly with panning and delay. In the right state, you might think the sonic doubles that keep appearing are imagined. This time round, what's captivating about Rivet's simple-yet-beautiful melodies is not their unexpectedness; it's their ambiguity. Even with a few listens, it's hard to identify whether that's a modified voice wailing away, or just a clever bit of electronic sound design.
TracklistA Metrist
B1 Metrist (Marcel Fengler Redefinition)
B2 Sleepwalker