- Alex Coulton's techno transmissions have fluctuated in style over the past few years. But in most cases his frosty, dubby soundworld has shown some element of UK dance music culture, be it UK funky's syncopations ("Grande Swing"), soundsystem dynamics (a pair of singles for Livity Sound sub-label Dnuos Ytivil) or just oodles of trouser-flapping sub-bass ("Candy Flip"). Breakbeats have surfaced briefly in the past, too, but on his debut for Black Acre they become the central focus.
"Murda" is more broken beat than slow jungle, its ruffneck rhythm supplying a syncopated veneer over a cavernous 4/4 throb—there's a nod to grime, too, in the gabber-like bass stabs that surface briefly at the midpoint. "Break Pressure" is more overtly junglist, particularly given the Reese bass snarling below. But where Special Request or Tessela revel in jungle's high-octane qualities, Coulton's take is brooding, its aggression tightly controlled. This is entirely in keeping with his past work, but the results can be sluggish: the breaks processing isn't quite deft enough to maintain intensity, and the breakdown, complete with a profound-sounding sampled vocal, feels a little overwrought.
TracklistA Murda
B Break Pressure