4 out of 5

Label: WeMe Records

Produced by: Binary Digit (recorded by)

Binary Digit – and let’s go ahead and take meaning from that nom de plume as well – seems to be an artist purposefully defining their music by limitations. It could be loose or strict, but by sticking to themes, or particular synths, or a particular method of recording, BD has also kept the inspirations running high, avoiding the trap of much of modern IDM / acid of sounding a bit too much like the heavy-hitters of the genre from ages past, or, in avoidance of that, being too flashy. This method of constraint is applied especially impressively on Xrns Trax, which uses the titular music tracker software to “pay homage to the influences linked to a certain era of computer music,” which we can imagine as one covering those heavy-hitters, or perhaps their first wave of followers. Thus: combining analog and digital noises – squelches and a warm low end – Binary hops, skips, and jumps through four excellent tracks of skittery IDM and hardcore acid, surprising in each track by building from set foundations and branching out, while maintaining those self-imposed rules of composition.

The A-side is probably the more instantly accessible, starting from a realm of mid-90s Rephlex burble and then advancing each tune in affectingly melodic ways, applying a tunefulness to breakdowns. Over on the B-side, BD goes hard with the BPM’s and an old school house vibe, though here again, the more early-AFX-geared edge gets interestingly sanded down so that you can listen to this as either dancefloor fodder or something to just bob your head to, your choice.

The flipside of this approach, I suppose, is that it’s easy to mistake this stuff, at first, for something more derivative. On my first scan of the material, that was my impression, pretty much wholly informed by the referential places in which each tune starts. So it’s an EP that definitely asks for a bit of your time, but absolutely rewards it in spades.