- With a sonic narrative spanning obliterative techno, punchy minimal and the countless niches in-between, Oliver Ho, AKA Raudive, has made a career out of bucking the comfortable norm. The London-based producer hits the ground running in 2013 with an EP on Paris's Get The Curse Music.
Having recently released his debut album as one half of tech-rock duo The Eyes In the Heat, it's of little surprise that title track, "Obsessions," smacks so strongly of time spent in the company of guitars. A robust package of stadium kicks, bass rumbles and brazen licks conveys a decidedly '80s vibe, forming a colourful, if wildly cacophonous, whole. "Romantic Robot" follows a more appealing, recognisable template, leading from the front with a timeless, muscular groove. Piercing synths give way to garbled female chants, but most captivating of all is the wailing strings, sounding as if they were recorded live in a cathedral somewhere in deepest Arabia.
Xenogears & Analogue Cops' take on the original is a slice of techno as it used to be served: fast, repetitive and razor sharp. Vinyl buyers may feel short changed, however, as Alixander III (of Azari & III) lights up the release with his brilliantly varied—but digital-only—percussive excursion into the multifarious caverns of acid-rave. Where Raudive et al chose their path and stuck to it, Alixander sets about confidently weaving a winning and richly textured tapestry.
Tracklist A1 Obsession
A2 Romantic Robotic
B Romantic Robotic (Xenogears aka The Analogue Cops Remix)
Digital: Romantic Robotic (Alixander III Remix)