- A rather unfortunate side-effect of the "post-dubstep" diaspora of the last few years has seen a raft of producers studiously distilling the hyper intricate drum programming of producers such as Pearson Sound and Rockwell, and foregrounding it to the detriment of, well, everything else. Yu Asaeda, a Tokyo-based producer with close ties to Goth-Trad, does rather succumb to this fevered approach to percussion with his second release for 7even, Analysis Code, but that's not to say that it is without its charms.
"Analysis Code," as described, clicks and thrums at every conceivable juncture, but it's the sparsely deployed details that are of more interest here, such as the honeyed, gossamer pads that melt onto the whirring and clacking midway through. A shame that ENA doesn't indulge his sweet tooth more here.
"Splinter" shares "Analysis Code"'s brooding outlook, and spends a good three minutes or so threatening to lose itself in its own drum programming, but, out of nowhere, bursts with a stuttering arpeggio that lends the track's spectral atmosphere a bit of bounce. Where ENA's 7even debut, the playful rave and drum & bass experiment Sign, promised so much, Analysis Code finds Asaeda selling himself short.
Tracklist A Analysis Code
B Splinter