- Not too long ago, Dave Huismans was best known for his dubstep project 2562, but recently it's his A Made Up Sound alias that's gaining attention. The latter doesn't slot easily into any subgenre: His 2006 single for Philpot was slow-motion house, and the following year's EPs for Shed's Soloaction label presented experimental breakbeats and early house/dubstep crossovers. Appropriately, "Rear Window" comes in two versions, one relatively straight and one resolutely broken.
On the original, a relentless series of chromatically descending chord stabs rain down over a powerful, cone-crushing 4/4 groove; off-kilter rhythmic fragments are thrown in to add drag, but you might as well try to stop a train with wire coat hangers. It's a huge tune that succeeds largely because it's so simple: once you've heard its deranged circus music, you won't forget it. "Rear Window (Shattered)" swaps out the steady kick for an angrily lurching thump, and the change in pulse turns it into a different track entirely—snapping bewilderingly like some carnival ride from hell—even though the rest of the elements remain mostly unchanged. Evoking Shed at his most unhinged, it goes straight for the jugular.
Tracklist A Rear Window
B Rear Window (Shattered)