- There's not a techno equivalent of the Reinheitsgebot, the strict purity laws for ingredients once laid down for Germany's brewers. If there was one, Mark Flash's King Of Light—now available on digital after a vinyl release last year—would likely bear such a stamp. Such purity is obviously tough to achieve as this is the New York-raised, Detroit resident's first EP since his UR debut, the Brasilia EP, back in 2008. Flash, it seems, is as frequent as the Olympics.
The title track is a rollicking tech funk express train, with a quicksilver live bass running along its length, classic Underground Resistance fairground-style synths, spanking stabs and melodies that spiral into the atmosphere and float back down again. "Dark Symphony" is an altogether simpler affair—harsher too, with its chattering hi-hats, Latin conga underpinnings and twitchy, percussive string phrases. Bringing up the rear are the military drums, heavily-filtered Native American chants and squelchy rave keys that are "Eagle Warriors"' chief weapons. Stripped back, high-spirited and honest, it'll be too straightforward for some, but it's difficult not to be won over by the exuberant funkiness of it all.
Tracklist A King Of Light
B1 Dark Symphony
B2 Eagle Warriors