Katsunori Sawa: The Two Legs EP
Weevil Neighbourhood

For those who like their experimental techno drenched in fog and mist, we have The Two Legs EP, twenty-two minutes of wonky mid-tempo jams from Kyoto, Japan-based Katsunori Sawa, who otherwise teams up with Yuji Kondo in the Steven Porter outfit. Sound-wise, the EP's tracks are, for the most part, a heady and relentless quartet that give equal attention to rhythmic intensity and textural design.

The EP opens with “Augurs,” a representative scene-setter whose skeletal bass-and-drum pulse arrives wrapped in a sweeping rainshower of industrial atmosphere and metal sprinkles. The opener's relentless thump carries over into “Black Sugar,” though this time with an even thicker coating of metallic fog. A faint hint of acid-techno is audible beneath the track's writhing lurch though the textural overlays are so dense it's easily missed. The B-side's “Phenomenon” picks up where the opening tracks leave off and, if anything, ups the industrial ante a tad. Siren calls seep into the pyrotechnical display until the track ends in a flash of immolation, after which “NGM” arrests the forward movement for a rather ambient-dub-styled treatment that sees a deep bass pulse snaking through a molasses-thick pool of crackle and thrum. Adding to the release's charm is its presentation, with The Two Legs EP pressed on white vinyl in an edition of 200 hand-stamped and hand-numbered copies.

May 2013