- Jungle has long been a staple of Etch's diet, but lately it's been the only food on the plate. Last year's The Serpent And The Rainbow was the closest he's come to direct revivalism, and was one of his best. This lengthy EP for Lapsus, Technicolour Daydream, keeps the nimble breakbeats, dubby basslines and creeping paranoia of the style, but returns to the bass music-compatible tempos of earlier releases. In the past, this combination has worked well for the Keysound affiliate, but the loss of a few dozen BPM here is sometimes painfully felt.
Mainly this is down to the structures (a bit long-winded) and the arrangements (on the simple side). The first and last tracks struggle the most. Their painstakingly chopped breakbeats sound smeared and listless, and the atmospheric material (soulful chords, feather-light strings) lacks the drama needed to make the whole thing zing. At seven and eight minutes respectively, both tracks run out of new things to say well before they're over.
Elsewhere, the tracks get more concise and a little more imaginative. On "Octopus," Etch turns that listless mood to his favour, time-stretching vocal samples until they sound like despondent aliens slouching through a downpour of hi-hats. "Tinfoil Hardhat" is the EP's funkiest moment, its sleek half-time groove punctuated by the requisite pulpy film quote. (It's from Videodrome.) On "Triptych," Etch cranks the tempo up to 160, sending his drums pirouetting between half- and double-time patterns. Here, finally, he captures jungle's spirit, as well as its constituent sounds.
TracklistA1 Technicolor Daydream
A2 Triptych
B1 Octopus
B2 Tinfoil Hardhat
B3 Fantasy