Shinra - Ball & Chain EP

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  • The inaugural release from London blog/radio show Null + Void's label, Ball & Chain is the work of Shinra, born James Clarke, a local producer who's been at it for ten years. You can hear that kind of history and dedication in the EP's four tracks: Clarke pays homage to the electro of golden era Rephlex, casually nodding to that essential label's forebearers in the process. Kraftwerkian synths give "Ball & Chain" a chilly retro-futurism, and the aquatic flourishes touch on Drexciyan themes. But then Clarke flips the whole thing out of nowhere, relinquishing the mix to a rolling, serpentine bassline begat by papa AFX. If all that sounds enticing, there's plenty more where it came from. Clarke nails this sound so precisely you'd be forgiven for thinking the tracks were a decade older if you heard them out of context. To his credit, Ball & Chain was produced with the clarity and space of contemporary machines, but that's where the innovation stops. It could've worked out fine had Clarke not played it so straight. The title track is the most distinctive, wrapping its chrome-plated 808 blitz in some wild sound design (Objekt would be a good reference here if he wasn't such a futurist). But "Chills" and "Fallen" treat their fast-ticking rhythms, syncopated basslines and pristine veneer like a frozen pond—something slick to glide over the surface of, not dive into. Incidentally, "Thin Ice" finds Clarke going deeper into his arrangements and structure. The EP closer pulls out a number of synth tones, weaving their assorted melodic sketches through the charged two and a half minutes. It's a nice window into Clarke's tuneful musicality, hopefully one he'll keep open as he looks for his niche.
  • Tracklist
      A1 Ball & Chain A2 Chills B1 Fallen B2 Thin Ice
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