It’s been a quiet year for Matthew Dear so far in terms of releases, with only an Audion remix of Sasha to his name. You can’t really blame him, what with the theft of his hard drive (during one of his sets, no less!) and a punishing live schedule on the back of his ‘Asa Breed’ full length, but he’s finally back with his first Audion 12" since May last year.
Gone are the sprawling experiments in epic modulation such as ‘Mouth To Mouth’ and ‘I Gave You Away’ – all three cuts here weigh in at under the eight-minute mark. ‘Billy Says Go’ opens up the A side, with a devastatingly bouncy low end and layered techy percussion, before wisps of Eastern melody make way for the screetching high end hook which is sure to divide opinion. Some may appreciate its raw, overbearing nature, but personally I find it a little harsh and unrefined (and can definitely see it hurting some ears when played at full whack on a struggling club soundsystem). It’s a real shame, as all the other elements of the track see Matt doing what he does best as Audion: bassline bumping, booty wiggling bangers with dancefloor levelling percussive interplay.
‘Snap Into It’ has more of a late night techno tunnel vibe, well suited for after parties where all sense of time has been lost and dancing until you drop is the only thing that matters. Fat square bass, whispered vocals, and a thumping kick get you into the groove, before skittering modulated hats take things up a gear, heralding a glut of FX work to take things through to the end.
The EP’s real gem, however, is found on the flipside. ‘Against All Odds’ is a menacing stripped back techno behemoth that whirrs and buzzes its way over a heavy 4/4 kick, always threatening to tip over into an off kilter crescendo, but never quite getting there. If you’re playing to a crowd who like it hard and nasty, you can be pretty sure that they’ll go crazy to this one if pulled out at the right moment.
Overall, this is a fairly strong twelve that will work well in the early hours, but I still can’t help but feel a little disappointed when measuring it up against some of his previous work.
Published /
Thu, 05 Jun 2008
Buy Audion – Billy Says Go at
  
Tracklist: Audion – Billy Says Go
A Billy Says Go
A2 Snap Into It
B Against All Odds | 
