- Sister City Limited is a young label run by the Los Angeles artists EPROM, Hej Fund and Dean Grenier. They also have a collaborative production project, Sister City, whose first release together operates like a mission statement for both endeavors. Bleak techno is the theme (that darkly cryptic cover art is no coincidence), but the sound here is both thoughtful and well-rounded. From the title track's mystic brutalism to the grim paranoia of "Dust Meridian," Rites Of Dacia sets an exciting precedent for what this trio could accomplish together.
A hammering, blown-out kick gets "Rites Of Dacia" started without hesitation. Sister City continues to wreak fiery mayhem until a gelatinous pad oozes over the tune's jagged edges, slowly consuming it whole. The effect feels like a transformation in real time—a six-eyed noise-techno beast becoming the ghost of '90s IDM. "Suprematizm," on the other hand, sticks to its drum machine athletics entirely, a method that works well for the group. Amidst concrete kicks and razorwire hats, Sister City juggles a few loopy synths and FX into the heavy groove. It's reassuring to know that range and unpredictability informs the work of Sister City as much as hardcore austerity and big, nasty drums.
Tracklist01. Rites of Dacia
02. Suprematizm
03. Dust Meridian