- If you've not been to Bloc., the Butlins-based weekender that returned with a vengeance last March, then the long and the short of it is: you should. Since it exploded into being almost a decade ago, their lineups have read like the who's-who and what's-what of dance music iconoclasts. And this year's edition is shaping up in much the same fashion.
As a precursor to last year's comeback, Bloc. launched a label with an EP from obscure newcomer Jake Chudnow. Alex Coulton's Freefall EP followed, presenting more of a natural fit. Both records were solid, but neither lived up to the festival's legacy. The RPM EP from Bristolian JoeFarr accomplishes just that.
"RPM (Dedication)" makes a sweeping, grandiose entrance, transporting you straight onto a hushed and smokey dance floor. Lasers sprawl over the packed crowd, moving in time with foreboding synth chords that build into a high-energy, trance-techno cataclysm. "Rolling And Thatching" does a menacing, robotic take on gurgling acid basement romps, while "Work Out Three" goes more purist with a few caustic licks and one of the deadliest sub-basses around.
TracklistA1 RPM (Dedication)
B1 Rolling And Thatching
B2 Work Out Three