- Few styles gel together like electro and acid, sounds that Luke Vibert blends masterfully on Arcadia, his first EP of 2018. As with a lot of timeless music, its four tracks could have been produced anytime between the '90s and now, but judging by their high tempos—two of the four tunes are above 150 BPM—they probably skew towards the former. The fast pace puts half of the EP out of reach for most vinyl DJs, excluding those who like mixing acid bombs with drum & bass, which seems to be the kind of thing that happens more often these days. But the two tunes at slower tempos provide enough heady textures to make this a great purchase for any house any selector looking to add some acidic funk to their sets.
Where "Balath" and "Worry Ledge," the EP's faster tunes, are for the mind, "pHlacid" and "Arcadia" are for the body. There's a laidback groove to the slower tracks, bolstered by fat basslines and a lazy swing. A sunny mood makes "pHlacid" the highlight of these, going down nicer than "Arcadia"'s brain-scrambling collage of 8-bit melodies. For a more powerful mind message, probably best experienced at home, throw on "Balath" and "Worry Ledge," slices of hyperactive acid to make your neurons dance. Vibert has been melting minds for 20 years, and Arcadia shows he's still got it.
TracklistA1 Balath
A2 pHlacid
B1 Arcadia
B2 Worry Ledge