Nick Gutterbreakz takes a close, and I mean close, look at Ulster-based beat maker Barry Lynn. Now releasing tracks as Boxcutter on Hot Flush, he’s gone from Hendrix and Fripp inspired guitarwork to IDM and jazzhead grime/dubsteppery.
A metallic drone rises as shards of echo-smeared sound matter flicker pensively…a sense of mounting tension…before a wave of shimmering, sustained bell-like tones radiate from the guitar amplifier, bathing the room in a radiant glow that seems to penetrate into every corner. Almost simultaneuosly the laptop starts spitting out a blurry half-step rhythm and resonant, writhing bassline. A haunting synth-pad rises from the mix, mournful yet life-affirming as further note-clusters trickle from the fretboard, spiralling through the air, reflecting back from every surface. Then the music seems to momentarily evaporate in a cloud of penetrating ring-sounds before a sudden adrenelin shot of DSP-soaked breakbeat abstraction bursts through the speakers in a flurry of ride cymbals and time-stretched snares, whilst all the while the morphed guitar textures soar majestically above, undulating towards ever-increasing levels of ecstatic intensity. Then, just as quickly as they appeared, the beats implode in a puff of reverbated delay, leaving only the chiming feedback-loop of guitar amplification.
When Guttah gets into an interview, like he did with his piece on the Cyclic sampler CD, he really digs in.
