- Visual artist and Juan Atkins collaborator Kimyon Huggins is the first producer to release on the newly rededicated Metroplex label. Were I Huggins (who produces under his first name), I'm not sure I'd know what to do with the task: Metroplex, of course, has quite a lot of history attached to its name and a whole host of fans who probably don't want the label's mandate mussed up too much. So "Platform View," not surprisingly, sticks to the unfathomably late-night formula, coming across simultaneously as a time capsule, an art project and a curiously blistering techno 12-inch. Though retro and reverent, it's got a few tricks of Kimyon's own up its sleeve.
The title cut features paranoid, knotted-up, lightspeed techno vibes probably more suited for an art installation or 5 AM joyride than most DJ sets these days. Upon first listen, you'll probably be more attuned to what's not present in the track—melody, timbral color, clear direction—than the deliciously contagious dark vibes that are. "Make The Bed" is the set's closest relative to an actual techno jam, and it evokes a ghost train rolling through the bleak subway platform depicted on the record's cover. Truly the most engaging thing on offer here is the B2, "Crunktastikk," which embeds a tentatively smiling melody with a chugging compound rhythm. It may be just the faintest sliver of sunlight through dusty blinds, but it's enough to make you pull back the needle and give the release's more difficult material a few more careful listens.
TracklistA Platform View
B1 Make The Bed
B2 Crunktastikk