Sasha Zlykh
Pink Flame EP

Hot off his debut for L.I.E.S. young music prodigy Tom Carruthers delivers a new 6 track lp of total Transmat worship. Jam packed with huge DX basslines, slamming 909s, and catchy melodies - this lp is made for the floor and would be hard pressed not to be thought of as a lost relic from '89. Where as his last LP channeled more bleep elements, this one goes right to Detroit and moves the crowd as it should be...anthem after anthem.

Morphid and x(eptional signed to Lucid Recordings in quick succession back in the day, their complementary styles helping to establish the label as a purveyor of pioneering and divergent quality techno sounds. They often worked in the studio together, and now they’re gleefully doing it all over again with this perfectly pitched platter of originals and remixes from the two duos.x(eptional’s epic breakbeat techno sound always went down a storm at the original Lucid events – live and on disc – and second-hand prices prove their Lucid releases have lost none of their dancefloor appeal.Morphid’s sparse, offbeat sound was always different, otherworldly. Delightfully strange while always warm and witty – and a little bit spooky!Side 1 presents two classic originals, one by each duo: x(eptional’s a-whole-night-in-one track classic Dark Waves, a ten-minute-plus banger of epic proportions and soaring highs, followed by Morphid’s ethereal Gezouten Dessert, with its pared down bare breaks and brooding tones.Side 2 sees x(eptional and Morphid switching roles to present radical and thrilling reworkings of each other’s tracks. Morphid strip down x(eptional’s Dark Waves into a cut-up of eerie, angular funk rhythms, voices and sounds, while x(eptional extract the beats from Morphid’s Gezouten Dessert and transpose it into a whirlwind of jazz-tinged breakbeat techno that gets a grip from the get-go and just won’t let go.