Various Artists – Blurred Angles
Brokntoys clearly believes in the power of collaboration, and Blurred Angles is its fourth split EP to date. This time though, the London-based label has engineered a different twist to the concept of ‘various artists’; each track on Blurred Angles is a collaboration between Luke Eargoggle and one of his peers.
On “Rat Wire Chomp”, the Swedish producer gets together with Marco Bernardi for a discordant take on purist electro. Supernatural voices filter in and out, tones shift up and down the frequency spectrum and the rhythm is grinding and raw. Eargoggle’s collaboration with Rutherford, another Swedish associate of the label, traces its roots back to a similar sound. “Stalkers Behave” also revolves around tight, steely rhythms, but from there on in, the pair embrace EBM and industrial tropes with a robotic speak and spell vocal, unflinchingly severe bass and nightmarish, nocturnal synths prevailing.
“Starke”, the split track with German artist Der Muster, takes the listener back about a decade and a half to the pacy electro of labels like Control Tower and artists like Dexorcist. Nocturnal riffs, robotic yelps and traces of Kraftwerkian synth hooks are all audible over a bruising, high-octane rhythm. While all of these tracks more or less adhere to the electro mould, the most impressive contribution is Eargoggle’s work with The Hacker.
Having remixed Cute Heels and appeared on Cititrax recently, the veteran French producer is back in the spotlight, and “Body” will, hopefully open up his work to a new generation. Set at a New Beat pace and inspired by that sound, the pounding bass, snare rolls and hypnotic chants capture the energy of the pre-techno period. Aligned to these elements is a whooshing synth riff that recalls the excess of Amnesia’s Ibiza. It’s the latest unexpected twist from a label that always offers a refreshingly different approach.
Richard Brophy
Tracklisting:
A1. Luke Eargoggle & The Hacker – Body
A2. Luke Eargoggle & Marco Bernardi – Rat Wire Chomp
B1. Luke Eargoggle & Rutherford – Stalkers Behave
B2. Luke Eargoggle & Das Muster – Starke