4 out of 5

Label: Central Processing Unit

Produced by: Ed Human

Some gloriously downtempo, minimalist stuff from Ed DMX.  Ed knows how to make the most out of seemingly little: a basic, bouncy beat and a juxtaposed dash of flourish, and somehow he strings together endlessly inventive and enveloping songs.  The five tracks on Space Cucumbers run a mini gamut from house, to funk, to jazz, with a nifty gaming influence throughout, particularly track 4s (Positronic Matter) zippy Zelda-like hunting theme.  Track 3 (Radioactive Leak) is a clear standout, tricking us with that same simplicity before doing an IDM jig to get us breathless, but the whole damn EP is fun.  The title track, a housesy number, is perhaps the weakest, but only for carrying on a dash too long: at five-and-a-half minutes, it does a fade and return thing that feels unnecessary, but it by no means turns it into a bad track, just a slight notch below the excellence it precedes.