DJ Punisher - Untitled

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  • More than many of his L.I.E.S. cohorts, Delroy Edwards has proven himself to be a skilled club architect. No matter how tumbledown his exteriors, he excels at supporting them with solid, dance floor-friendly foundations. As such, the LA producer's recent Teenage Tapes, a collection of lacklustre experiments, didn't feel like it was playing to his strengths. And his latest, under the new DJ Punisher alias, suffers from precisely the same problems. Granted, the opening track could probably sustain some club use—there's a kick-and-hi-hat thud more or less throughout. But it falls far short of Edwards' grooviest moments, feeling like little more than a vehicle for the enormous drone slapped on top. The result is juicy, sure, but it's a texture you tire of before long. Elsewhere, Edwards again lapses into pottering. A2 and A3 echo Teenage Tapes's briefer pieces of noise; the way they squeal and writhe is pretty satisfying, but at sub-two minutes each they feel like little more than curios. B1 is longer, and follows a clear narrative arc, albeit a predictable one, with distant grumbling thunder growing into full-on machinery malfunction. B2, finally, sees Edwards crack out the drum machines again, this time for a pensive digi-dub pastiche. Such an odd stylistic turn would make sense if the track itself were somehow remarkable, rather than basically forgettable. There's nothing wrong with Edwards widening his musical scope. What's disappointing is the half-arsed way in which he seems to be doing it.
  • Tracklist
      A1 Untitled A2 Untitled B1 Untitled B2 Untitled
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