- The Manchester-based Mindset Records have already made waves in the darker crevices of the UK paddling pool this year with EPs from Szare and Stickman. Their latest release, from close affiliate Elsewhere, could easily upset their run of form. All the ingredients for a tired formula piece are in place: rhythmic frameworks lifted from UK Funky and dubstep, a boomy, 808-derived percussive palette, demonic, codeine-addled vocal samples. Fortunately, the producer's alchemical skills are sufficient to wring something fresh from these basest of materials.
"Trippin'" is the most devastating, its diamond-edged snares sounding clipped and constrained, as if squeezed tightly, and riding over a dystopic snarl of a bassline. It's equal parts Swamp 81 and vintage DMZ, housed in a pitch black, cavernous space—but with a flair of execution which is Elsewhere's alone. After that, it's a case of slightly diminishing returns: "Bott Bott"'s woozy rave pads and UK funky bounce give it an added layer of hip-winding bombast, while "The Espers" occupies dreamier terrain, though it's still all dead-eyed dubstep throb and twitchy, syncopated percussion. Still, our man's clearly not short on ideas: each track positively bristles with adroit tweaks and subtly reconfigured patterns and, with nothing here breaking the five minute mark, you'll likely be left with sufficient appetite for another spin or three.
Tracklist A Trippin
B1 Bott Bott
B2 The Espers