- Sasu Ripatti is best known for his techno and IDM-inspired productions as Vladislav Delay, but over a career of more than 20 years he's covered a lot more ground than most. He's produced experimental pop as Sistol and vocal house as Luomo, as well as performing live jazz drums in the Vladislav Delay Quartet. Last year, Ripatti collaborated with Mark Fell on the footwork-inflected Sensate Focus (1.6666666), a new direction he explores on his self-titled debut as Ripatti for his new label of the same name.
The music here might be his most chaotic yet, a mutation of footwork spliced with techno. The two tracks on Ripatti 01 are apparently the outcome of studio jams, and they certainly sound spontaneous. Though off-kilter kicks makes it feel as though the track is charging forward in a frenzied, the tempo of "#39" is closer to techno than footwork. It gets even more intense in the second half, as the beats threaten to slip off the grid. "#24" is much faster, with garbled R&B samples and an onslaught of percussion. It doesn't head towards a climax or breakdown, but sustains a wild-eyed peak for its duration.