- On this 12-inch, L.I.E.S.' Ron Morelli extracts two tracks by the mysterious Bad News (reportedly a famed New York producer working incognito). Although the label has released everything from cosmic synth jam-outs to meditative deep house, one of its true calling cards has been crunchy, brutalist techno, owing to a New York legacy stretching back to the likes of Adam X, Dutch crews like Bunker and Morelli's own past in hardcore and punk. Bad News fits right in, sounding as urgent and unedited as anything in the L.I.E.S. catalog.
For much of the first half of "Real Bad News," the producer strings the listener along with quirky touches, namely a clipped vocal sample, tonal tweaks and chirping, alien FX, which ride atop a thudding groove. It's all tied together with a ferocious synth solo that succeeds on bluntness above all else. On the flip, the lumbering "More Bad News" presents a more chaotic vision; its drums seem to stomp in divergent directions, and its backdrop is all extended bass drops, animal growls and filtered squelches. It's truly punishing, and all the more exciting for it.
TracklistA Real Bad News
B More Bad News