- Experimental techno that works best at its most adventurous.
- Disorder isn't a concept typically associated with techno, yet it sits at the heart of the three tracks (plus two remixes) on the debut slab of wax from Eli Osheyack. An integral part of the experimental techno scene revolving around Shanghai's SVBKVLT label and the now-closed underground club The Shelter, the American-born musician bangs out dizzyingly chaotic productions constructed from scraps of gabber and industrial, then carpeted with spontaneous bursts of percussion. This latter quality thrusts itself into your mug on the electroacoustic-suffused "Bodied," whose ringing metals, stuttering taps and hectic rattles seem sourced from Chinese drum ensembles and marching bands. Yet even when the percussive elements are digital in nature, like the compressed distortion recklessly slashing across "Very K2" or the looped signal tone anchoring "Bow," Osheyack applies an off-the-cuff feel that tilts more towards freely improvised electronics than actual sound design.
There's more disorder on the pair of remixes found on the B-side, which rocket off in wildly different directions. Raphaël Valensi, using his Nahash alias, pushes "Bodied" further away from dance floors by smothering the song in blackened industrial textures and droning metal. But the Beijing artist Zaliva-D pushes "Very K2" closer to them by tempering the original's flailing swing with a more linear approach to repetition and movement, even adding a robotic vocal loop. Hearing them back-to-back makes for a jarring sonic experience, yet one that's in line with the potent experimental streak coursing through Osheyack, a young and unpredictable producer.
TracklistA1 VeryK2
A2 Bow
A3 Bodied
B1 Bodied (Nahash Remix)
B2 VeryK2 (Zaliva-D Remix)