- Erol Alkan's Phantasy Sound has had a particularly good 2013, with two of its best releases to date: Daniel Avery's debut LP, Drone Logic, and Connan Mockasin's Caramel. Mouth, the debut EP by Ghost Culture, doesn't quite reach these heights, but it's promising nevertheless, a record that sounds so assured you're not quite convinced that it's a debut. The EP is lush and expensive, with just a hint of Depeche Mode-esque sleaze—and a comparable knack for a hook.
"Mouth" unfurls after a teasing introduction of synth tones. Ghost's vocals are hardly extraordinary, but they're not unpleasant either, soft so as not to interfere with the juicy Drexciyan bassline, but foregrounded enough to add warmth and interest to the analogue timbres. But as its instrumental and "Red Smoke" illustrate, Ghost Culture's songs simply sound better without vocals (his own, at least). On the latter he layers gleaming electro synths and distorted vocal samples over drum machine beats and a serpentine bassline, and the latter, with the vocals stripped away, is ever more absorbing and meditative.
TracklistA Red Smoke
B1 Mouth
B2 Mouth (Dub)