JTC – JTC
Tadd Mullinix wasn’t joking when he told Juno Plus that the Bopside label would be “a vehicle for me to offer my art exactly in the way that I would deliver it”. Following on from a second Charles Manier album as well as an experimental LP under his own name, Bopside now presents a self-titled JTC set from Mullinix. In the past, the JTC pseudonym had been home to some of Mullinix’s finest releases, including Take Them Off for Creme Jak and the brilliant, brooding Like No One album for Spectral. Both of those acid-heavy releases appeared over eight years ago.
To gain a better understanding of where Mullinix is at these days, it is worth listening to his recent JTC rework of Gosub’s “Sunday At Battle Ship Key”, where he turns Shad T. Scott’s brooding electro into a balmy deep house track. A similar mood runs through this self-titled album; “Atmospheres Pt. 2” and “Düsselmorph” are balmy, atmospheric compositions; summery keys and breathless vocal samples surfacing over robust house grooves. The closing track, “Infoline (Engage Mix)”, goes even farther down the melodic route, with Mullinix taking inspiration from Derrick May to create a beautiful but reflective deep techno track.
He doesn’t completely shake off the project’s 303 past however; the primal jack of “Nexus Ship Core” resounds to rough acid tones and detuned riffs. Meanwhile, “Caskadia” exhibits all the hallmarks of a relatively mellow house workout thanks to its subtropical melodies and insistent slap bass, but these elements revolve around cold, splintered beats and DMX Krew’s take on “Infoline” revolves around a rough electro bass and claustrophobic drums.
In the main though, JTC does see Mullinix mine a more musical, mellow path than before. This is most audible on “Atmospheres Pt. 5 (Hemi Mix)”. Reminiscent of the early-’90s ambient house of The Orb and Ultramarine, its cosmic, lurching groove and stoner samples are as far removed as possible from JTC’s ferocious roots. JTC is a more mature take on this project, but Mullinix realises it with the inventiveness that has always defined his work.
Richard Brophy
Tracklisting:
A1. Caskadia
A2. Atmospheres Pt.2
B1. Nexus Ship Core
B2. Infoline (DMX Krew Remix)
C1. Düsselmorph
C2. Blitz Puff (High Position Mix)
D1. Atmospheres pt.5 (Hemi Mix)
D2. Infoline (Engage Mix)