- There's a lot to admire about Cliff Lothar's catalogue, a potent mix of rough 808s and nocturnal melodies wrapped around energetic Chicago house rhythms. When he stitches a vocal to it all, things get really interesting. On the striking "Dro Friday," from his Viewlexx debut, someone sings, "Oh baby," to a potential lover, following it with, "Oh, did you hear me," in a desperate, bluesy tone. Soul Plonk's "Slippin'" was less explicit about its desires, but its monosyllabic coo said just about enough.
U Don't Really K, Lothar's first EP of the year, is less lovelorn than its predecessors, nor is it his best, but both tracks, gloomy yet camp, are as playful as ever. The Gregorian chant in "Through The Sea (Mix III)" is slurred, drifting towards sleep, but it's surrounded by a Legowelt-esque fog of synths that only grows thicker. Twitchy hi-hats and tape-warped organs hint at something malevolent—when the vocal slows down and sinks into Lothar's sonic sludge, it sounds resigned to its fate. "M.U.T.A.T.E.R. (Mutation 8)"' summons a rasping synth line last seen on 2013's White Savage, over which sickly 16-bit notes are scattered. There's a vocal here, too, but on this occasion, Lothar's sprightly beat does most of the talking.
TracklistA Through The Sea (Mix III)
B M.U.T.A.T.E.R. (Mutation 8)