4 out of 5

Label: Analogical Force

Produced by: Sinichi Kobayashi

There’s definitely a bit of DMX Krew self-aware funkiness to Bot1500’s style on their Analogical Force Matrix EP, but the stuff has a bit of a modern pop bop to it that makes the works unique to the artist. Impressively, Bot carries the fun across all 5 tracks here, often edging across the 4- and 5-minute lines without a dip in energy; each song also has an identifiable beat and tone, slightly more organic or electronic acid vibes; slightly more silly or emotive. The small piece to the puzzle that’s missing is just a bit more variation intra-track: perhaps as part of that pop song sensibility, there’s not a lot of depth here once the borders of a song are established, relying on the same backing beat, relatively unchanged, throuhgout. Route 53 is an excellent example of adding to and stripping away from that beat to justify a runtime, but elsewhere, there’s more of a club focus to things to just keep the audience moving as opposed to keeping an at-home listener absolutely entranced.

That persistent sense of fun really wins out in the end, though, definitely making the EP a very solid, noteworthy entry.