- Tribe Of Colin has a show on NTS and fans like John T. Gast and Josey Rebelle, but there's little information about him available to internet sleuths. His first release, Fruits Of Zion, was made up of deteriorated but strangely evocative pieces that left you scratching your head trying to explain their elusive significance. To some it might sound like lo-fi techno, but Tribe Of Colin's grotty electronics are a means to an end—a channel through which something personal flows.
While Wide Berth's A-side is an engaging slo-mo techno workout, the B-side is simply superb. "Lion 5" sounds like it's 1992 and you've veered off the highway onto bumpy terrain en route to a rave. It lopes forward with a rabid intensity, sounding like a forgotten child of minimal hardcore and outsider psytrance—neither of which exists, but Tribe Of Colin might have you thinking otherwise.
"Jah Skit" is an overloaded excerpt from a reggae track I cannot identify, and a nod to the sense of theatre that made Fruits Of Zion so good. Like "Lion 5," "Lead And Demonstrate" has you reaching for nonexistent genre hybrids to explain its distinct character. The horror movie synth line and the drums' clattering, pump-action stomp is torn between grime and electro, but the patterns are too syncopated and militaristic for either. Bursts of rough texture, like sand paper on skin, suggest an industrial-school masochism while the twinkling bleeps have you looking to the stars.
TracklistA1 Noir Body (The Message)
B1 Lion 5
B2 Jah Skit
B3 Lead And Demonstrate