- John Barera and Ariana Paoletti (AKA Volvox) run a party at Brooklyn's Bossa Nova Civic Club called Jack Dept. From the two EPs they've released since the summer—including this one, M//R's Professor—you get a sense of what the residents might play. "For anyone not familiar with the Jack Dept party," reads a memo, "the mission of the label is... straightforward: techno, acid and a hint of electro." That more or less describes this record, a quartet of neatly groomed drum tracks draped in black leather. Its smooth contours would be a joy to mix with straggly EBM tracks, but the overall scope seems too narrow, especially when compared with M//R's two recent releases for L.I.E.S., which were more willing to mess around.
Even when Professor lacks M//R's usual sense of adventure, the twists and turns of his acid leads keep the pot boiling. The title track's contorting 303, with its Plus 8-style spaciousness, has a satisfying scrunch. "Shtoops" hits another sweet spot, smothering busy one-shots and a frosty melody in cosy static. The other tracks are less enticing. The synth loop on "Exums" is pretty anonymous, and while gated vocals give "Browz" some urgency, the melody is less rousing. With the exception of "Shtoops," M//R presents the same idea in slightly different ways—"Professor" is, by some distance, the best of the three.
Tracklist01. Professor
02. Exums
03. Browz
04. Shtoops