- This 10-inch unveils DJ October's Malestripper alias, and comes with a sleeve photo and promo angle to match. The sleaze isn't new, mind—it was central to the Bristol-based Dutchman's grinding 2015 LP, Black Body Radiation, and present in earlier tracks in which he mined New York house for its erotic intensity. This record doesn't break any habits, and even compared to past instalments in the no-frills OCT series there's something familiar about it. Each track is a stylish, minimalist assemblage of October-trademark ideas, delivered like an endlessly rehearsed striptease.
Moments of mixdown drama turn these hipthrusting 120-BPM groovers into dance floor aphrodisiac. On "Distant Visions," a dry lead line flirts with chord stabs reverbed into a thick mist, making for stark changes of space. Just as the routine starts to drag, ethereal pads float into view. "Raw MF'r" is even more hip-grindingly deliberate, its kick drum a squat overdriven thud. It's also a bit fuller, with dub echo and grand pad moments revealing new contours in a mixdown so tactile you could almost reach out and grab it. No touching, mind.
TracklistA Distant Visions
B Raw MF'r