- Bronze Teeth is the new collaborative project between Richard Smith, who, under the name L/F/D/M, made his debut last year with Purple Maps on Optimo Trax, and Dominic Butler, one third of Factory Floor. The outcome of these two EPs for Powell's Diagonal is more spartan than either producer's main project, and a loose fit with the label owner's own productions.
Yet where Powell's music is often geared for club use, Bronze Teeth seem more concerned with mashing out as much brutal sound from their hardware as possible. The tracks on O Unilateralis and A Waif's Rent exist in their own insular space, obeying the general strictures of industrial techno but kowtowing neither to the demands of the dance floor nor the attention span of the listener. The effect of this is mixed. "Tapeworm," which opens O Unilateralis, clangs and bangs for over 12 minutes. Squidgy acid lines run alongside a knocking techno rhythm, propelled relentlessly forward as if by compulsion rather than choice.
"Tapeworm"'s analogue on the second EP, the 13-minute "Albion Pressure," is fleshier and more rewarding, with a choked bassline, a clatter of snares and cowbell that recalls Factory Floor (perhaps a little too strongly). The side-length tracks on the EPs threaten to dwarf the shorter tracks, which seem less potent by comparison. A couple do stand out, though. "Tephra," from A Waif's Rent, is a marvellous exercise in starkness, with little more than a caustic buzz and thunking drums, while "Acetone," from the first EP, is slinkier, all humid acid and drums that owe plenty to Plastikman.
These Bronze Teeth EPs may be more minimalistic and less rag-tag than Powell's music (and more ferocious than the individual producers' releases) but they clearly exist on the same continuum as Diagonal artists like Shit And Shine, Streetwalker and Blood Music. As such, they deepen the niche carved by a label only 13 or so releases in, but already boasting a strong identity.
TracklistA1 Tapeworm
B1 Acetone
B2 Glass Tooth
A1 Albion Pressure
B1 Cut Bronze
B2 Tephra