Cyclic Defrost

In these broken, dark and grimy days, when many a producer is being influenced by the spatial possibilities of the half-step, Vienna’s Angina P gains her inspiration in part from the classic mid-nineties Warp and Skam oeuvre. The beats are razor sharp, the atmospheres brooding yet uplifting and the bass rumbles deep in your chest in all the right places. Initially gaining a following online at mp3.com, 8 Rooms is her debut long-playing release.

Five of the eight tracks on 8 Rooms are Angina P originals. These are followed by three mixes in a more dance-floor oriented d’n'b style from fellow Notochord artists Semiomime and Edgey, plus Larvae from the Ad Noiseam camp. Indeed, the Edgey remix of ‘No Time to Bleed’ warps the Autechre-like tendencies of the original into something much darker. It reminds me of an old Penny Black 12” from back in the day – strictly for the headstrong! The Larvae remix of ‘Placemat Club’ mutes the two-step ‘chipmunks on acid’ of the original into a more contemplative shape whilst not losing any of its vitality.

One of my pet gripes concerning contemporary drum and bass is how the inexorable creep of tempo into the higher echelons of the BPM range has removed a lot of the swing from the music. Maybe I’m just getting old, but the majority of it sounds to these ears like step-aerobics for cyborgs. Angina P manages to back off the BPM’s and regain some of this intangible element. I look forward to hearing stronger, more engaging work from Angina P in the future.

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