4 out of 5

Label: Abstract Forms

Produced by: DMX Krew (?)

A dang near perfect slice of Ed DMX minimalist funk, Tha Bump! gives us six tracks of smooth, bouncy old-school bass – think 80s house – with a retro 80s chiptune melody, playfully dribbled atop. Opener Three Pee and Sound Module lean in to a more “sci-fi” version of this sound (more pixellated, as it were); Iced Bun, Fee-linn Fine and Odd Socks have a kind of streamlined Casio bleep atop, but as played by one of the masters of this form. Although there’s some matter of those tracks needing a bit of distinction between one another – Bun and Fine feel pretty interchangeable – just as Socks maybe wears through the formula, the call out of the EP title pays off with closer Catastrophic Bump, which uses the same sonic tools to more atmospheric effect, giving us a chill, emotive cap on top of an awesome set of tracks.