- White Material's "working man's techno" tagline has been much discussed. Fittingly, Lost My E, the second EP from WM co-founder Quinn Taylor, AKA Young Male, appears to be pitched at a party where pleasure-seeking becomes a form of gruelling physical labour. Across these four utilitarian tracks for Spencer Parker's Work Them, Taylor sheds the mournful, Sandwell-esque atmospherics of last year's All R EP, focussing instead on thunderous 909 aerobics and not much else—a move which reflects the simplicity of his live set.
"Finesse" makes no bones about its DJ tool status—it consists of a sole flanged hi-hat pattern for the first minute—and would struggle to hold its own outside the confines of a mix. Elsewhere, however, Taylor succeeds in wringing surprisingly fresh results from this well-loved sound palette. "Depraved Thoughts In Depraved Times," with its dissonant synth melody, follows warehouse techno contours. But instead of the bilious reverb usually associated with the form, we remain in the echo-free space of the 909, where elements thud and crackle with pleasing precision. "Body Music" is sparse in the extreme, but its glutinous bass stabs, sliding unsteadily across the loop, are just sufficient to discombobulate. "Lost My E" is the best of the lot. Its tight-delayed claps, machinegun tom pattern and single silken synth note are oddly reminiscent of Pearson Sound, though the execution is thoroughly techno-orientated. Rushing snares build to a brain-boring climax at the midpoint, before a whispered "not... yet..." ditches us back onto the groove—a cruel move, but then a bit of sadism tends to go down well on a 4 AM 'floor.
TracklistA1 Lost My E
A2 Body Music
B1 Depraved Thought in Depraved Times
B2 Finesse