- On-trend beats from the founder of Lobster Theremin.
- When checking out Touch The Sky, the new Lobster Theremin release from its founder, Jimmy Asquith, I was reminded of a conversation I had a couple years back with a colleague. We were talking about modern hip-hop, and its utterly ubiquitous use of the trap beat. I made the point I wasn't sure this new stuff would stand the test of time. "It doesn't really matter to me," he said. "And anyway, you can't think like that while it's happening." I detect some of this same attitude in Lobster Theremin. It's followed recent trends through electro, uptempo techno and jungle (and helped started one in lo-fi house), and it often seems to be saying, "So what? Let's have fun while this lasts."
"Touch The Sky" actually manages to roll several currently hot styles into one track. The production values are lo-fi, the mood is early '90s rave, the beats are rapid techno and the breakdown draws from trance. Given the energy of all those elements, it's surprising that the results feel a little wooden. But if you think your dance floor is ready for an emotional extended breakdown, this one should still do some damage. Asquith turns to electro on "Cranky." It's a heavily stripped back, drum-heavy version of the style that works nicely with Asquith's love of grit and dust. Does acid house ever go out of style? "Kunstcamp Acid" seems to think not, and gives the sound a twist by increasing the track's tempo from roughly 127 to 150 BPM midway through, a transformation from a fairly standard drums-and-synth workout to a frenzied stomper. All the easier for DJs to move into one of the popular genres this EP covers.
TracklistA1 Touch The Sky
B1 Cranky
B2 Kunstcamp Acid