Patscan: The Numbening (Part One)
Lewd Recordings

Little clarifying info accompanies Lewd Recordings' latest EP aside from the note that The Numbening (Part One) was written and produced by Pat Hime (aka Patscan). We do know from Hime's previously released Patscan EP, Happy Accidents, that he's the London-based co-founder of the Lewd Recordings imprint and that that outing was preceded by ones on Rednetic (Plasticine, 2007) and Concrete Plastic (Muddled Up, 2007). But even if we knew no such detail, the five latest tracks say all they need to on their own terms and do so with dispatch. All of them fit squarely into the experimental dance genre, though the tracks do tip their hats in slightly different directions and in slightly different ways. In addition, track titles suggest focal points though they shouldn't be taken too literally.

The opening cuts are in the Ai tradition of sleekly crafted Detroit-meets-IDM: in “Bass Moi,” monotone voices utter “bass” and echo across a throbbing base as synth noises squeal and sputter; “Flicker” unspools sleek pulsations, hyperactive flickers, and staccato syncopations in its opening three minutes but then almost stops in its tracks before heading home in a blaze of whirr and click. Elsewhere, “Spun Rubber” delivers four minutes of bass-bootied melodic sparkle and lightly grooving IDM, “Dry Riser” rolls in as a dub-techno workout before being overtaken by driving tech-house sizzle, and “Acid Casual” presents more of a controlled blaze than an out-of-control one in a track where the acid dimension is surprisingly downplayed.

December 2010