Sunil Sharpe – Hoof 001
It’s not hard to see why Sunil Sharpe is enjoying a growing following. Rather than trying to blindly ape trends or quickly hitch a ride on a bandwagon, the Irish DJ has developed his own approach behind the decks over the past 15 years. As a DJ, his high-octane sets are a wonderful kaleidoscope of old hardcore tunes, stomping Chicago trax and contemporary, heavy techno. In more recent times, he has also developed a distinctive production sound and as the debut release on his new On The Hoof label shows, there is a wonderfully unpredictable, DiY aesthetic underpinning his own productions.
Mastered and pressed in his hometown of Dublin in limited edition and sold through the Bandcamp of his other, more established, Earwiggle label, there is an underlying two-finger attitude to the ‘industry’ and all of the bullshit that goes along with it at play here. It also seeps through this four-track 12″; “Post Test” is led by pounding drums and bass that merge in a distorted blur, while over this union wired vocal samples, noisy electronic riffs and thunder claps come together to create a thrilling climax. On “Untitledelica” (surely a piss take of techno’s overstated fascination with anonymity), Sharpe is in a similar territory – the only difference is the rhythm is more stepping and he lets loose quicker with howling riffs, cloaking the arrangement in a tangled mesh of noise.
On “Owecha”, he navigates a straighter route to the dance floor, with the hum of a thousand bumble bees and indistinct mutterings set to a tough drum pattern. Despite this, it retains the frazzled sensibility that has become Sharpe’s trademark. Last but most certainly not least is “Gickna”. Over an intense flurry of beats, he lays down a pulsing groove that’s coated in a distorted shell. It could be a response to the short-lived Blacknecks project, but knowing Sharpe, it’s more likely to be a by-product of his creative bloodymindedness.
Richard Brophy
Tracklisting:
A1 Post Test
A2 Untitledelica
B1 Owecha
B2 Gickna