4 out of 5

Label: Analogical Force

Produced by: James Clarke

This is… suspiciously good. James Clarka, aka James Shinra, had been maybe only “officially” kicking around for a handful of years prior to the release of his second Analogical Force full-length, Meteorites, which makes its quality so baffling: Clarke hops between acid bangers, breaks, and 90s-tinged electro with ease, rarely making any outright callbacks to the classics of the era – the Rephlex-ers and Warp elite that much of AF’s roster is influenced by – while clearly taking inspiration from those heavyweights all the same. The all-stars of modern electronica are either off doing their own things, doing spot-on mimicry of what came before, or kind of iterating on that past stuff in fresh ways; Shinra, meanwhile, has a way of staying true to the style – his compositions have a sense of history – while also being very much his own thing. They’re slippery, and subtle beasts, presenting instantly head-bobbing beats that sometimes don’t seem like much, but tend to blossom into complex webs of beats, or masterfully timed synths.

But the Discogs history is what’s misleading, as James’ bandcamp shows a history going back to the early 00s, with those earlier releases showing all the work that’s gone into graduating the artist from rawer fare to the back-to-back frequent bangers he’s released in the years preceding Meteorites. And now, of course, including Meteorites.

This is a compilation, though, collecting (and sometimes reworking) singles put out by Shinra in 2023 / 2024, and the nature of that is the set’s only limitation: tracks stand on their own. It’s not quite an “album,” lacking the feel of that kind of experience. Excellent sequencing that trades off between the aforementioned subgenres helps mask that, but occasionally a track will come up a bit short – it doesn’t have punch, sandwiched between punchier tracks – and I wasn’t really able to walk away with any overarching feeling. But: the outstanding quality of Shinra’s work of this era never really falters throughout, delivering music that’s delightfully slick, but just a note away from suddenly being a club tune or something grimier for a late night walk.

Meteorites fits all moods.