3 out of 5

Label: Isness

Produced by: Ibrah PM

I’m understanding now that Analogical Force’s sublabel, Isness, was not necessarily declaring itself as “different” in terms of being more experimental, rather just different from its parent. And if AF generally has pursued more IDMish / glitchy electro, Isness is becoming the home for more downtempo, streamlined vibes – reminding me of the early 00s Warp scene – although maybe I’m projecting from third participant Kid Bucle’s EP title, ‘Memorabilia.’

Taking one step back, I’ve been guilty of judging the Isness imprint against the former interpretation, since its output has been, to me, a little stunted. Not necessarily bad, but fairly predictable in some regards. Interestingly, in tapping in to something that feels like a more direct callback to an earlier era, Bucle has provided much more original compositions, that tap into a kind of loose but precise playfulness with percussion and pacing that I tend to love. Then again, KB has been around for a while: this is a return to a recording name the artist used over a decade before, and has otherwise been recording as ‘Malsum’ before and consistently after that point. Meaning: he’s been around the block and was there for some of this original scene, which doesn’t always feel to be the case with AF artists (not that I doubt their influences, but there’s something to living through an era, or sitting with its music for 10+ years, versus discovering it all via bandcamp in a speedrunned playlist).

Memorabilia’s gentle tones that give way to nighttime beats heavily nod to Astrobotnia, or Girl/Boy era Aphex, but Bucle brings into it an appreciable focus on synths over beats, to the extent that tracks can sit very meaningfully in extended, beatless intros. There’s definitely some groove in here (pulling from that same 00s era) as we get into ‘Slowly Alive’ and the title track, but the roots stick close to the Rephlex crew.

What keeps this from really sticking the landing, though, is that the songs kind of miss exactly that: KB gets them going beautifully, but perhaps with those extended intros, and bearing in mind relatively (for this genre) brief runtimes, the tracks don’t quite push over an emotional threshold. So I’m just getting the memory; just getting the familiarity. It’s delivered with enough integrity that it allows me to appreciate the extras KB can add to the formula – it’s not strictly a copy – but once the mood has been established, the songs tend to end.

But: I had started out considering Analaogical Force as kind of a Rephlex-wannabe label, only to get on board down the road to fully appreciate their stable. Kid Bucle might be the turnaround point for me with Isness. It’s definitely an interesting release, and makes me hope Malsum sticks with this pseudonym for a few more releases (with less than a decade between!) to hear how this could more fully evolve.