- Keysound signing Etch is the latest discovery from a wave of producers fashioning UK soundsystem culture's DNA into pleasing new forms. His recent releases, for Soundman Chronicles and on Keysound's Allstars Vol. 2 EP, are proof that this movement can't be reduced to a discussion simply of grime (as can be said of Logos and Visionist), or of a revival of dubstep's values (as with Beneath and Wen). Granted, Etch clearly admires the latter—the recent "Scattah" could have been a forgotten Toastyboy beat—but for the most part he has focussed on repurposing hardcore's giddy sugar-rush and the rhythmic acrobatics of jungle, making him a less rowdy cousin of Tessela, perhaps.
Old School Methods is certainly Etch's most technically accomplished work to date; "Hybrid", in particular, sharpens the slow-jungle aesthetic of his past output to a fine point. But it's also a chance for him to show off his range. "Sounds," with J-One, is ghoulish, smartly assembled 2-step, sporting a brilliantly nimble bassline. Elsewhere we're given a whistle-stop tour of the jungle canon. "Sphynx" is more rigid, its flinty snares and distant Mentasm stabs harbouring a latent threat. "Lost Methods," meanwhile, is bleaker, with a plodding bassline, taut atmospherics and rolling, woody breakbeats lifted from golden-era Photek. Etch's rhythmic chops may not be quite as flawless as his ancestor's, but he gets admirably close.
TracklistA1 Hybrid
A2 Sounds feat. J-One
B1 Sphynx
B2 Lost Methods