- Andrew Morrison has a nickname for the kind of saturated, cassette-born house he makes as The Cyclist: "tape throb." It's an accurate description. On releases for the likes of Leaving Records and All City, the Irish producer has dug deep into a love for analog recording processes, cheap gear, gritty sample sources and groove-centric dance music. Everything Morrison puts his name to pulses with big rhythms and is wrapped in a hissy glow, a trend that carries onto his Hot House EP.
Morrison does his thing best when he's not lost in the fog of distortion and analog fuzz, careful to treat those raw frequencies more like a garnish than a side dish. "Upwards Spirals" is the biggest offender in that regard. A morose B-side cut, it drags through murky string samples at first, but finds its footing for a brief segment, when the shrill noise dissipates and gooey bass takes over. All three tracks on the A-side ("Heart Of Stone," "Hot House" and "Aurora (Shortwave Mix)") are more effective, as they get to the heart of what makes The Cyclist an interesting producer—punchy and crunchy drums, earworming basslines, warbled melodic passages, charismatic energy and an air of ghostly soul.
Hot House even gets a bit ambitious with nine-minute closer "Higher Volumes." Morrison uses the extended production to travel through a winding string of kosmische and house phases, eventually combining the ideas for a rave-inspired hybrid with a show-stealing vocal sample at its core. "Higher Volumes" proves that, though he may be reluctant, The Cyclist can reach beyond his modus operandi without losing the essence of his distinctive personality.
TracklistA1 Heart Of Stone
A2 Hot House
A3 Aurora (Shortwave Mix)
B1 Upwards Spirals
B2 Spirals Onwards
B3 Higher Volumes