- We know Neil Landstrumm can do stoney-faced and slamming stuff, and he's about as nerdy as it gets with hardware, but it's his weird and wonky fare that we all secretly lust after. And damn, does he know how to get a party started. His mischievous, backwards gaze, coupled with a tendency not to take things too seriously, makes electro a natural fit for the Edinburgh shapeshifter. He properly got into it last year with the collaborative Modini project; for Landstrumm's latest solo record, he's channeled all that cheek into an unusual debut on The Hacker's ZONE Records.
The cover art—a brazened butt in sexy underwear (with label showing) in front of a floral William Morris backdrop—sets the tone for Extreme Pleasure, where high- and low-brow club naughtiness converge. It's dirty, seductive dance floor music, all detailed and delicately made but begging for rough-handled consumption. "A Girl Is A Gun" begins the tease with a ravey bassline and titillating machine melodies, before getting a bit more agitated on "Live Slow Die Anyways." Then "Night Comforts" returns to the retro '90s tones from "A Girl Is A Gun," fashioning them into a more modern UK bassline sound. Darkly charged closer "Live Slow Die Anyways" would be a vintage techno stomper, were it not for that persistent synth line and oddly sunny bridge throwing it off course. But that's the thing with Landstrumm: nothing is ever straightforward, and you can't help having a laugh with it.
TracklistA1 A Girl Is A Gun
A2 Silent Forces
B1 Night Comforts
B2 Live Slow Die Anyways