The great thing about the first four Uncanny Valley releases was their variety from track to track. With the switch from V/A to single artist EPs at number five, this variety is something that you'd expect to change, but C-Beams are a pairing with diverse skills and musical ideals (not to mention a fantastically geeky name). So while this is somewhat more confined in genre—here it's deep house, broadly speaking—than the Various EPs, a greater degree of standardization isn't really the case with Strollin'.
Each track is a surprise: after the sweetness and acid tickle of the A side you'd hardly expect something as weird as "Scrapyard," or for Jackmate to twist "Strollin'" into a dark, dancehall-inflected brooder. Varied singles are common, but there's something about this one that's different. It's to do with the lightness and free flow with which everything happens, a result no doubt of "the magic of the moment they are looking for constantly," as the press release has it.
They're also enchanting tunes in their own right. Tina Slotta's breathy deep house sigh is something of a cliché that is excused by its complete lack of gravitas, and by the cerulean purity of the electric piano chords underneath. "Scrapyard" burbles aquatically, with a rhythm track made out of dragging chains and, yes, bits of scrap metal. The chord choices are wonderfully nonsensical, but somehow soothing. Stuttgart man Jackmate's solemn, argy-bargy chord stabs, raw, punchy drums and elastic ambience, meanwhile, all add up to something funky and powerful. More please, UV.
Buy C-Beams - Strollin' EP at
  
Tracklist: C-Beams - Strollin' EP
 A1 Strollin' feat. Tina Slotta
A2 Strollin' (Jackmate Reflection mix)
B1 Scrapyard
B2 Strollin' Speechless
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