Released
January / February 2014
- The Shatter And Lose 10-inch, unleashed last autumn on Diagonal, marked a significant turning point for James Donadio's Prostitutes project. To these ears, it was the Cleveland producer's first release to boast a fully synthesized vision from beginning to end. Now, don't get me wrong: previous titles were certainly badass (in particular the rough-hewn Psychedelic Black LP from 2012), yet they were largely products of a musician still discovering himself. Because of this, they felt more like assemblages of experiments and sketches rather than cohesive statements.
Issued as separate releases on Avian subsidiary Mira, Truncheon Cadence part 1 and 2 are further advancements on the unitive synthesis kickstarted by Shatter And Lose. As with their predecessor, the pair of 10-inch plates are both more focused and more uncompromising. A perfect example of this is the dense and brittle "This Whole Affair Is So Fucking Unfair." Donadio packs three of his go-to tricks—Ohio synth-punk decay, Institut Für Feinmotorik-style minimalism and Afro-futurist percussion—into a single, multidimensional piece. Go back only a year, and he simply wasn't working with this many layers. A similarly evolved sense of blending distinguishes "Rigid Pathetic Heaps" and "Odd Dog End," wherein thudding primitivism is folded into languorous dub techno. Clipped and reeking of burned metal, both sound like Deadbeat productions fed through a cheap-ass Yorx boombox.
Donadio also continues to thrust groove research to the center of his aesthetic. Though he has been known to traverse the ambient and abstract (see the Crushed Interior full-length), little of that exploration informs either parts of Truncheon Cadence. Instead, we're subjected to a radical onslaught of mangled syncopation, mechanized shuffles and technoid mesmerism. But what's striking is how he retains his love for grating, lo-fi textures, while at the same time his understanding of beat design only grows more nuanced. The result is an irreconcilable tension between force and finesse. The components that make up "Led Up Garden Paths" might be coarse and raw, yet in Donadio's nimble hands they unfold along three sublimely patterned planes: the subterranean bass wallop, the chorus of pressure-valve gasps and, smack dab in the middle, a vibrating electro-drone. Just as telling is "An Enormous Door." Here we find Donadio wrangling a chaotic tribal stomp into an exquisite loop punctured by backwards-smeared squeals that would sound right at home on the legendary Rema-Rema 12-inch. As with the rest of the Truncheon Cadence, the track is a testament to how punk energy and techno craftsmanship can successfully coexist.
TracklistA1 Unanswered
A2 Led Up Garden Paths
B1 This Whole Affair Is So Fucking Unfair
B2 Odd Dog End
C1 An Enormous Door
C2 Bomb Splinters
D1 Smouldering Wilderness
D2 Rigid Pathetic Heaps