3 out of 5

Label: Happy Skull

Produced by: E. Majumdar-Swift

Happy Skull’s club-leaning electro would be a good fit for 96 Back, given the imprint’s appreciation for a varied emotional palette in their dancehall releases, and melding a personable sound to razor sharp IDM has thus far been 96’s forte.

With each additional release, 96 Back – Evan Majumdar-Swift – has been expanding his stylistic toolbox; 143 Connections is thus his attempt at syncing his skills more exactly to the above label description, delivering tracks that weigh body-groovin’ BPMs over mindblowing Aphex tinged glitch. The resultant brew is an interesting one of restraint, and perhaps a bit of tedium: after establishing solid beats at the outset of both the A-side title track and B-side’s Set Science, Evan essentially pushes and pulls levers to switch layers of the tunes on and off, or pitched up or down – a tried and true approach, if fairly linear for the artist. Each of these offerings takes time working up to its final form, of course, and that time is where the magic happens. Interestingly, though, the concession Evan has made in the Happy Skull equation is the aformentioned restraint, which prevents either tune from really lettings its low end shake the speakers – the songs are mostly structured for dancing, but relatively muted in the offing. It’s an interesting concept.

On closer In The Trunk, Belting Down The Highway, 96 Back ditches this framing, and does minimalist electro, which allows its ambient pulse to be immersive; it’s a fantastic tune that favors emotions and an “organic” sound over the somewhat compromised club tunes that proceed it.