Realitycheck
Oblique Action EP
Unknown To The Unknown/12/UK
French artist Realitycheck follows his “Untitled Love” EP from January on Unknown To The Unknown with another EP on the label. This time it’s a three-tracker but in the same vein as his previous EP, namely stripped back house, techno and electro with a raw, retro feel. “Escape Your Future” sounds like  a beefed up take on the early Chicago house of tracks like “I Can’t Stay Away” by Ragtyme. A loping, bounding bass line is joined by haunting synth strings, a tough kick, slicing hi-hats and a no-nonsense dance floor driver is created.

“Replicants” has more of an old school Detroit feel. It’s once again stripped down, draped in dark strings and skidding, repetitive synth textures. There isn’t much of what you could call a bass line, so this one will be very useful in the mix and it breaks down to the strings and a short, but menacing, monologue by an undisclosed male voice. The EP closes with the title track, over seven minutes of what sounds like the bastard child of Drexciya and Aux 88. It’s raw, but melodic, with a great rolling,  throbbing bass line and searing high-pitched strings.

If the analog sounding stuff is your thing then this is for you. It’s still melodic though and that’s what really makes this EP work from start to finish. Christopher Orr