Trule Vinyl & CDs

Review: Al Wootton rarely releases material from other artists on Trule, so when he does you can guarantee the music in question will be rather special. That's certainly the case with this surprise EP from rising star Porter Brook, a Sheffield-born member of the Groundwork family whose dark, atmospheric and claustrophobic take on techno - with more than a dash of UK bass influence - is as industrial as the city of his birth. Over the course of four fantastic tracks, we're treated to ghostly, sub-heavy broken techno melancholia ('Trakt II'), intense early morning industrial techno dystopia ('Lipsius', a real early morning treat), crunchy breakbeat minimalism doused in concrete-clad aural textures ('Second Shift') and hushed, dubbed-out breakbeat techno ('Final Call').

Review: Al Wootton has always been able to cook up rhythms that are beyond even the wildest dreams of many and now he gets even more weird and esoteric on this fresh 12" on True. The six tracks layer up polyrhythmic hand percussion with sonorous bells and are all brought to life with modular synthesis and deft sound design that takes you deep into a humid jungle where moisture drips from the leaves and psychedelia lurks around every corner. It is both a heady and a heavy trip into worldly and dubby techno rhythms that will leave you feeling keen to hear more from the man.