reviews!

it's been a while since i've reviewed anything on here, so here's my thoughts on a pair of recent releases:

milton bradley - the unheard voice of outer space
a newcomer to the prologue crew, the sounds milton bradley creates on this EP fit in nicely with prologue's penchant for deepness, with titles that definitely fit the otherworldly productions. the eponymous first track is perhaps the most dance-floor ready, with an urgent thumping beat paired with a sonar sounding off into (you guessed it) outer space. but it's the other two tracks that intrigue me the most as the EP gets progressively deeper. both employ syncopated rhythms: 'interdimensional entity' features more ghostly echoes slicing through a cloud of crackling static, and the final track 'somewhere beyond my illusion' is even more reduced, featuring not much more than a broken bass pulse and decaying sound structures. up to this point, most of prologue's material has been anchored by a danceable 4/4 beat, but i hope these guys continue to dig deeper into abstraction and minimalism.

dettmann - remixed
fresh off the ostgut ton presses is this collection of short tools in preparation for marcel dettmann's debut LP in just a few weeks. apparently the 'originals' of these remixes will not be included on the upcoming full-length, so we may never have a clue what these tracks actually sounded like... anyhoo, we start with two norman nodge remixes: 'shift' features a looping, slowly developing rhythm section accented by a quick and sudden vocal sample, a droning synth stab that occasionally doubles up... and not much else, while "unrest" throws in some unconventional percussive sounds and swirling atmospherics. the other two remixes come courtesy of one wincent kunth, who seems to be making his 'production' debut her. both tracks feature more melody than nodge's remixes, with 'vertigo' using a repeating bassline under a hazy atmosphere, and 'wound up' showing off a swirling dubby chord that slowly builds in intensity. each track clocks in at under six minutes and seem to be not much more than dj tools. i'm hoping the incoming LP will feature more variety (and i'd like to hear more from wincent kunth), but for now, this EP is solid but nothing spectacular.