Idea FX

The techno-ey end of psytrance has always carried connotations of cyborgs going mental to the sound of a drill smashing through Midi Miliz 12′s, but Idea FX does well to distance itself from that — what we’ve got here is intelligent, emotive, evocative techno that’s of interest to anyone with even a passing interest in electronic music. Epi Centrum’s Noise Exodus is a tasty opener, with slide-saw skitchit noises layered over a set of frightmare backing noises to delirious effect. What starts out initially caustic and sparse picks up bags of groove and a pinch of psychedelia, creating a hypnotic and positive vibe that sucks you in, eager to hear more. Hali Frogz’s Wotau has been on heavy rotation here lately, and I’ll tell you for why. It’s beefy, ASBO-techno with a snarling, growling bass sound that’s right out of Ed Rush & Optical. Know the sound I mean? Evil drum n’ bass bottomend that filters and snarls and generally scares the shit out of you. Oh, but it sounds amazing – and on a big rig it would shake the hairs off the underside of your scrotum. Literally. Fuzzion is one of psyreviews’ favourite producers at the moment and E=MC2 is pretty darn tasty: a farty, smarty bassline rumbles underneath clattering noises, a lot of which again would sound more at home in drum n bass and, by their inclusion in techno, are farken wicked. Weird Walker’s Layer-1 is an industrial cacophony of textures and thunks, all piled together to create an awful lot of power, particularly when some more soothing pads come into the background to give it balance. Fuzzion’s Launcher is the best one of his I’ve heard. It’s got a sort of negative-riff in it, where the sounds all sort of conspire of themselves to create a riff that wouldn’t otherwise exist. Very intricate, very groovy, and the little melodies and beatskips set it off that little bit more. 3 Lay Airs’ BMW is hectic and mental, but when it breaks into four simple chords it’s among the most beautiful moments in electronic music of the year. It’s one of those tunes that sounds epic enough to have been recorded years ago, but still sounding great now – and I’d casually predict that it will still sound as good years in the future. Tasty. Metalogic’s Forcefield is less organic than the sound on his recent album, but the way that the sketchy, crunchy beats mould around the frontside of some seriously nice, vangelisy chords is impressive. Fuzzion turns in an unlikely, but wonderful, remix of Bigwigs’ Vibrafon… and those Twin-Peaks’y vibe stabs have never sounded so neat as when tilted against this sweetly farting electro. Worm Food’s The Shakes is a great display in how techno can take so many incongruous, opposing sounds then melt them together to create a solid groove – you’re never quite sure exactly what’s making you move, all you know is you’re moving. Epi Centrum’s Drapacz Chmur is crazking, it’s uber-cool electrodiscotechno with knobs on. A sleazy 136bpm, it’s all about the bassline and the colourfully subtle changes it goes through. The breakdown sounds like the dying moments of Rufus and Chaka Khan circa Ain’t Nobody, before it’s off again into booty-shaking goodness. Mass Turbo’s Archival is uncomfortable funk, a little too scratchy and with pads that are conspiring to make a sound as caustic as possible; in which sense, mission accomplished. Finally, Triple Distilled’s Expertiza is a marvel of moody technoid soundtrackery, taking ages to slink and slurp its slow-motion way into fruition… a disturbing and unnerving end to the album. Crunchy, punchy and with plenty of meat on the bones, Idea FX is a nice proposition if you like your genres melted and your beats served raw. There’s more soul and depth here than I was expecting, and when that comes together with the often jaw-dropping tunes on offer, added together with their flat-out psychedelic individuality, it makes for a pretty tasty little package.