- Pings, zaps and big basslines, engineered for crisp soundsystems.
- On its sixth release, Well Street Records turns towards moodier headspaces. The Postdrome EP is by Significant Other, a New York-based artist who debuted last year on Darwin's SPE:C with a record that explored dark, complex club beats somewhere between bass music and drum & bass. Postdrome, like most of Well Street's excellent output so far, is more gently paced, emphasising atmosphere over impact. Beats and bass are the leading actors, with dank, drifting synthesizers in supporting roles. Significant Other's vision is clear, but the efficacy of the results do vary.
The template works best when it adds some sparks. On "Brain Fingers" and "Memory Drum," the B-side tracks, the skeletal broken rhythms are enlivened by controlled sonic detonations. In addition to its crafty bass, "Brain Fingers" grabs attention through its many pings and zaps, while the sinister shudder of "Memory Drum" is disrupted by a noise-fuelled breakdown. The A-side illustrates the fine margins that minimalist club music works within: the tracks are built upon almost identical foundations as their B-side counterparts, but don't quite achieve the same magic. The title track comes the closest, thanks to its periodic swells of jungle breaks, but for me the B-side is where it's at.
TracklistA1 Postdrome
A2 Delos
B1 Brain Fingers
B2 Memory Drum