- Minimal meets post-dubstep.
- What would Batu play at a Get Perlonized party? What would a Margaret Dygas record sound like on Hessle Audio? If you're like me and stay awake late at night thinking through these questions with existential angst, you're in luck. Just put on "Spritz" from Alex Tsiridis's latest EP as Rhyw. The first minute or so is pure UK techno, with a synth line that sounds like Roomba vacuums gleefully short-circuiting as they careen down a Slip 'N Slide. But then a swung drum pattern locks into place, changing the vibe from chaotic clanger to restrained groover. This surprising twist cuts to the core of Mister Melt, an EP somewhere between wonky minimal and bass-heavy techno.
While I can imagine some head scratching from that preceding clause, the two genres aren't as far apart as they may seem. Minimal and the post-post-dubstep variant of contemporary UK techno both employ weirdo melodies, a healthy amount of bass and slanted rhythmic contortions. They share a common lineage, as Tsidiris himself has noted: back in the mid-'00s, right when he was cutting his teeth in the London scene, fabric was hosting Digital Mystikz on the Friday and Ricardo Villalobos on the Saturday.
Alongside "Spritz," both "Wolf Town" and the title track lean into this back-and-forth. On the former, syncopated drums skip under a melody that sounds like the final bursts of helium being let out of a runaway balloon, while "Wolf Town" builds into the sort of percussive madness designed for the after-afters. That leaves "Engine Track," which is a bit closer to last year's runaway hit, "Honey Badger." It starts out bread-and-butter UK techno before he drops out the drums for nearly a minute. When they come charging back in, he introduces a livewire synth line that has enough voltage to recharge a Tesla.
Mister Melt is as unexpected as it is welcome, a refreshing four tracker that is truly unlike any other record released this year. I've been claiming we're on the precipice of a minimal revival for a hot minute now. Tsidiris's take is a reminder that far from being a staid, sterile affair of bleeps and blops, minimal can be, well, anything but. Borrowing the genre's off-kilter palette and clipped rhythms, Mister Melt is a record bursting with colour and strange ideas for the future of the minimal revival.
Tracklist01. Engine Track
02. Mister Melt
03. Spritz
04. Wolf Town