Bakey USTL – EP 1 review

Even if you weren’t privy to the news that Firecracker had launched an sublabel, your immediate thought when grasping this inaugural release on Unthank would be that the Edinburgh imprint were involved to some degree. Arriving in bespoke purple hand stamped sleeve art pressed on 10 inches of clear vinyl and covered in Japanese style plastic wrapping, it’s one of this year’s most attractive propositions for vinyl obsessives.

This is all without even approaching the music, a debut peek into the musical mind of the Amsterdam dwelling Estonian producer known only as Bakey USTL. In “A Tender Place” Bakey has delivered one of the most disjointed, flagrantly risqué, thumping eight minutes of house music your senses might be exposed to this year. There’s a dizzying momentum to the track, with several blunt and deranged sonic right turns, such as the brief silent interlude before the main glorious hook drops, which prove nothing less than stunning. A less than worthy soundbite would be to call it Moodymann on Viagra. A more than worthy summation comes from Jackmaster, with the Numbers honcho calling it one of this year’s best house tracks, with support from the likes of Ben UFO and joy Orbison adding credence.

In contrast to the sleaze on the A Side, the opposing proceedings open with the shuffling future soul abstractions of “Nose Candy” minimalist beatdown at it’s finest, whilst “Heroin” marks a swift descent into the depths of South American narcotic noise. Thus the schizoid brilliance of the A Side is matched by the slightly menacing strangeness of the opposing side on a record which is limited in numbers and high on demand.

Tony Poland