Four immense groove deconstructions from the shadowy cast of Downliners Sekt landing somewhere between Autechre, Rhythm & Sound and T++. It's fair to say we're a little intrigued with this record, not least because of the willfull lack of information attached to it, but also because the production is so shockingly precise and complex. First up 'U Gumbu' starts out sounding like Autechre's 'Pro Radii' mixed with the sort of funk and soul displacment of James Blake's 'Air & Lack Therof' before lapsing into a crackling dub groove almost worthy of Rhythm & Sound's 'Distance'. Next 'Dirty Meinz' calls for the T++ comparison with mechanically shifted post-garage techno styles swamped in psyche-tumbled static while acousmatic voices croon from the ether. Meanwhile 'Inside Maverick's' takes a different route with distant bomb-drop bass implosions and shivering organic jazz percussion sinking slowly into a tense and ominous K-hole. Applying the finishing touch, 'Negative Green' finds a graceful tension between ultra compressed bass weight and wide-open dub space threaded with ethereal jazz signatures reminding of Biosphere's 'Dropsonde' set mutated to the nth degree and spliced with vocal glossolalia worthy of Burial. We're really, really into this 12" and any fans of hi-calibre, beats-driven electronica should pay it their full attention without fail.
