While the numerical reference contained in the moniker of Mark Pritchard’s latest musical project pays homage to Detroit, this debut album from Harmonic 313 in fact sees him paying to tribute to UK-born ‘bass’ music, tracing a distinct lineage from hiphop and electro straight into more contemporary dubstep and garage sounds. Indeed, compared to the icy, IDM-electro centred tracks gathered on last year’s ‘EP1’, ‘When Machines Exceed…’ represents a considerably more visceral and sub bass-quaking proposition. Curiously however, given Pritchard’s local associations with nights such as Void and the recent Hyperdub event, it’s not a collection that’s as touched by the influence of dubstep as you might expect, and while it certainly flirts with the form on tracks such as slinking, delay-drenched electro opener ‘Dirtbox’, it never really becomes subsumed in it. Indeed, the predominant emphasis here falls far more upon hiphop-indebted sounds, the boom-bap meets sine-tone bass synths of ‘Cyclotron’ and the clattering drum breaks of ‘Battlestar’, featuring Slum Village’s Phat Kat and Elzhi in sharp form providing a good case in point. Elsewhere, ‘EP1’s highlight track ‘Word Problems’ makes a welcome reappearance, pitting circuit-bent ‘Speak N’ Spell’ toys against swirling synths and lurching, headnod beats, before the gorgeous ‘Falling Away’ offers up one of this album’s most understatedly spectacular moments, with fellow expat Steve Spacek contributing his pitchshifted soul vocals to a glittering backdrop of clicking, metronomic rhythms and distorted sub bass swells. In many senses, it’s typical of the laidback, after-hours vibe that permeates throughout the 15 tracks gathered here, making this a collection perhaps best suited towards post-club listening. Well worth investigating.
Chris Downton
