Diamond Version - EP3

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  • Considering that the majority of their solo releases tend to be dense and concept-driven, the delivery mode of Alva Noto and Byetone's Diamond Version material is pleasingly straightforward. Essentially a series of five standalone techno 12-inches intended to be collated at project's end, each one arrives free of thematic baggage and ready to be taken entirely at face value. The duo's co-opting of blue-sky-thinking corporate soundbites as track titles nicely hammers the point home: the presentation suggestively hints toward some deeper meaning, while tacitly acknowledging that, in actual fact, what you see (and hear) is exactly what you get. Across the Diamond Version 12-inches released to date, what you got were precision-tooled and impeccably sculpted club tracks, powered by the duo's characteristic strobing rhythms and flecked with absurdist humour. Texturally, EP3 is much the same as its predecessors: all chrome surfaces buffed to a high sheen, tides of digital distortion rushing through the midrange, and drums that hit with enough force to punch right through the surrounding melee. Rhythmically, however, it's rather more fleet-footed. Both "Turn on Tomorrow" and its alternate version on the flip move with a fast-paced, distinctly electro-leaning bent, with the latter's tightly coiled bassline and springy percussion recalling paranoiac recent material by DJ Stingray. "Sense of Urgency" is more thick-set and ponderous, but compensates with brute force, pairing fist-shaped bass blasts with synth slashes that cut deep notches into its surface. They're the best of the duo's Diamond Version missives to date, by turns tough, austere and playful.
  • Tracklist
      A Turn On Tomorrow B1 Sense Of Urgency B2 Turn On Tomorrow (Version)
RA