- Racking up titles on Digitalis and Opal Tapes, as well as his own stabUdown label, Jim Donadio has been stuck in fifth gear ever since he got his Prostitutes project up and running in late 2010. Yet nothing he's dropped thus far has possessed the sheer sonic chutzpah of the Diagonal-released Shatter And Lose. In addition to further solidifying the Cleveland musician's reputation as the Emptyset-style minimalist of American basement techno, this 10-inch EP spotlights audacious cross-pollinations with both instrumental hip-hop and robo-punk deconstructions.
Opener "Kisses Undelivered" is four ecstatic minutes of Wild Style breaks and shuffles reduced to sandpaper-scuffed austerity and low-end so thudding it's claustrophobic. "Poison The Masses" unfolds in similar fashion, though the piece is slightly more electro in disposition. Moreover, it's shot through with funky-android belches and a fried-wire sizzle that's perfectly crap-fi. As for side B, it springs into action with dubby synth-groover "Crawl On You At Night"; the track's unmistakable retro-futurism belies Donadio's love for the likes of Six Finger Satellite, Tubeway Army and Devo. And lastly, this killer EP closes with "Sold A Decade At A Time," a cut that deftly integrates the myriad hip-hop and rock elements scattered across the previous three. Not surprisingly, the syncopation is as punchy as the bass is brutal.
Tracklist A1 Kisses Undelivered
A2 Poison The Masses
B1 Crawl On You At Night
B2 Sold A Decade At A Time