5 out of 5

Label: Happy Skull

Produced by: F. & M. D’Arcangelo

Man, cheeky buggers, these brothers.

Electro artists are no strangers to dropping multiple releases in a year, but the range of the work offered by this pair around this time – 2018 – is almost hilariously rapid fire and sprawling, while still (mostly) sticking to their icy, acid stylings.

Sandwiched between some amazing Analogical Force releases, the D’Arcangelo brothers had two rereleases of sorts through Suction, an exploration of mostly linear electro on Further Electronix, and then this amusingly self-titled EP – they already have a self-titled EP, just for kicks – through the restless cutups at Happy Skull.

The tour through the older material is interesting; the FE joint didn’t work for me, but it makes a lot more sense when paired with this EP, as the boys are operating at the extremes of weird and funky; it is very identifiably D’Arcangelo, but also one of the most booty-shaking things they’ve done. And lest you think that doesn’t necessarily sit well with D’Arc’s icier, moodier leanings, it’s still hanging around beneath the bouncy surface of this music, and then more explicit in the latter tracks on each side.

Saba Tree and AC – SF13 – 2 Cid – 13th Cider – the lead-ins on A and B – are both bouncy as heck, though, a bit more joyful than the chilly atmospherics the duo generally layers into their music, but there is a grimier edge to the low-end. …Which is brought more to the fore on Pull Seven and Korty (again, A and B-side tracks, respectively), which maintain the pace and bubblier bass sound of the preceding tracks, but allow the icier layer to take precedence. It’s an amazing juxtaposition that makes each side of this EP super rich from a mood / emotion perspective, which is added to how dense and danceable each tune is on its own as well.

All unique tunes; all worth the price of admission on their own.