- When I spoke with the Infinite Machine founder Charlie Juárez earlier this year, he said his label would leave the dance floor for the cinema. The label's first releases of 2017—which include W3C's towering State Of Absolute Alienation—have landed somewhere in the middle. But Juárez is true to his word with Final Star, a new EP from his WOLF project made in collaboration with the Finnish producer 111X. With barely a drum to be found, this is punishing, mind-scrambling music without an anchor holding it in place.
The music's free-floating nature is a double-edged sword. On the surface, "Final Star" is fearsome, with every blast of noise landing like an asteroid impact. But without anything to grasp onto, it feels ephemeral in spite of its weight. "Wounded Alien" goes even harder with the same formula, but it's more memorable thanks to a lonely melody that streaks across its dark surface. The newcomer Astrosuka throws in skittering percussion on a remix. The patterns are fun, but it still feels like something is missing. W3C's rework of "Wounded Alien" has a more steady beat. It's atmospheric and without a club-friendly rhythm, so it suits Juárez's intentions—just with more flair. Music like this is bound to draw comparisons to Mumdance and Logos's weightless sound, where the aggression of grime is dissipated into ambient music. There are impressive moments in Infinite Machine's version, but they're still tinkering with the recipe.
Tracklist01. Final Star
02. Wounded Alien
03. Wounded Alien (Astrosuka Remix)
04. Wounded Alien (W3C Remix)