Akufen - Psychometry Vol. 3      (Trapez)

That ever-prolific Canadian Mark Leclair returns to Trapez (a Traum offshoot) for the third instalment in the Psychometry series, and perhaps for what is both the most musical and challenging release so far. Spanning the entire A-side we are given ‘3.0’ a monster of a 3/4-time dancefloor track with heavy drums, deep, driving bass and some superfluous electric guitar licks - and of course that funky cacophony of random samples that we have come to associate with this artist – oh, and lets not forget about the soul that leaks from between every beat. No energy is lost on the transition to the B-side when first of all we are hit by ‘3.1’ and its urgent sound driven by distorted kicks, snappy percussion, continuous stabs, and the finest example of what he has coined as ‘micro-sampling’, by which I refer once again to the awesome arrangement of sounds (this time taking an altogether funkier guitar nature) that, in constantly coming jumping in and out, makes for the most original interpretation of funk in the last year. Bringing up the rear is ‘3.2’ and it does so as aptly as its peers on this EP, although taking an altogether darker and more mutated sound – primarily due to the fact that the track constantly flicks from 3/4 to 4/4 like the end of a wind-vein caught in a monsoon. Pounding kick-drums, Dub bass-stabs and searing electronics gyrate around transient vocal glitches – truly awesome and groovy, if a little perplexing to begin with. High in originality, high in quality – buy on sight.

Reviewed by: Alex Io

Score: 5/5

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