4 out of 5

Produced by: J.P Buckle

Label: Rephlex

One of the many Where Are They Now? acts that appeared and disappeared during Replex’s latter 90s years’ roster expansion, JP Buckle – creator of the relatively infamous ‘someone probably told you this was Aphex Twin’ Rubber Johnny release – also held the distinction of being a pretty frequent used bin find.  A precursory listen of the disc suggests a possibility as to why that was: Its 28 tracks primarily follow a template of a beat with one variable – keys, some kind of effect – manipulated for a few minutes before an abrupt stop or fade out; not so far off of many electronic acts o’er the years, except the disc kicks off with the pre-glitch hop blast of ‘Royal Court, Let’s Get Sectioned‘, inevitably setting expectations for more of the same to follow.  Buckle keeps up the pace, but the range is more subtle, and thus it’s pretty easy to lose focus.

Which is a shame.  Not only does the disc surprise by shifting through various genres – some 80s-synth vibes (‘Get In That Bloody House‘), several grimey tracks (such as the aptly named ‘Depressed Mode’), occasional ambient (the short, creepy ‘Boz Off‘), but there’s still some tried and true IDM left over in there if that’s what your ears seek.  Push further, though, and even the remaining “standards” – those that fit that beat / variation template – are pretty outstanding.  Buckle has a good sense of how long to carry things before switching them up: no track outstays its welcome, and he digs into any groove groove of interest but doesn’t just lazily ride it out, adding and removing slight touches to mix it up.  The production is also fantastic, a really raw, earthy beat that sounds like old synths, but my ears don’t really know nothin’ about that.

Now, true enough: It’s a long disc with a lot of tracks, so not every cut is distinct.  And the occasional 30-second sound snippets are half interesting, half momentum hiccups.  However, this is still, absolutely an album worth going over a few more times, giving your ears a chance to listen past that exciting – but distracting – opener.