- "Punters love the more uptempo, tough side of dance music. We like it a little rough around the edges," Matt Burns, a resident DJ at Tw!tch, once said of Belfast clubbers. The same point could be made of the city's selectors, whose sets often reflect the urgency and impact demanded of them. (Space Dimension Controller's Boiler Room set at last year's AVA Festival, where he mixed rave and acid tracks with Chicane's "Saltwater," is a good example of this.) Killing Mockingbirds, the latest EP by Belfast native Jordan McCuaig, struggles to be distinctive as it works up a sweat.
With bassy acid and 8-bit bleeps, "Killing Mockingbirds" could pass for a Roman Flügel track, which sums up the EP's problem—the more accomplished it sounds, the more derivative it feels. By loosening Jordan's knotted grooves, Borrowed Identity's remix of the title track zeroes in on its best parts, but he strips too much away and what remains is anaemic and forgettable. The record hits another rough patch on "The Block," whose sharp vocal jars against a stiff Chicago house frame. Things get more interesting on "Strung Out," when a breakbeat coils around euphoric acid phrases and Game Boy FX. The remix of the B-side is also a clear standout. Adesse Versions realigns the fragmented drums with hand percussion and a Highlife-esque vocal, supplementing Jordan's original synths.
TracklistA1 Killing Mockingbirds
A2 Killing Mockingbirds (Borrowed Identity Remix)
A3 The Block
B1 Strung Out
B2 Strung Out (Adesse Versions Remix)