- From the label that brought us MssingNo's unforgettable "XE2" comes the debut solo record from Moleskin, a producer whose discography is otherwise limited to an edit, a chilled-out collaboration with Elkat and a soaring number for Keysound's This Is How We Roll compilation. Over five no-holds-barred tracks, Moleskin twists Baltimore and Jersey club in the same way his friends have been contorting grime.
"We Been Ready" is quite an opening salvo. It's a bounding grime chop job that sounds eerily like "Samir's Theme," a mid-'00s staple. The triumphant horn riff and tom-toms spray out like machine gun fire add to the hectic feeling. If that's the party track, then "Clemency" is its antisocial cousin, adding bite with husky stabs and clipped vocals. Comparatively subdued, "Chips" juggles what sounds like an air raid siren over a syncopated beat—it's brittle, barebones and repetitive to the point of dizziness.
Digital bonus "Chain" feels humdrum next to the more exciting fusion going on elsewhere. Conversely, the vinyl-only "Turnt On" is exciting from the get-go, stomping all over a shrieking string sample with some banging tom-toms. Once the bassline hits it's pure bedlam. With dread rolling off the end of each bar, "Turnt On" feels unstoppable, a seamless genre hybrid delivered with all the finesse of a bulldozer.
TracklistA1 We Been Ready
A2 Clemency
B1 Turnt On
B2 Chips