Italoboyz & Alban Hi-Dini - Buscando Una Fiesta EP

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  • London-based (need I say Italian-born?) Italoboyz make music with the precision of a surgeon: samples are sliced with scalpels, rhythms are grafted impeccably, suture points erupt like water on a hotplate. Their previous 12" on Treibstoff ideally suited the label's rich blend of deep funk and miniature detail and their recent live performance on Resonance FM's Process:Minimal show revealed an ability to craft a tough, flowing live set. Their latest with Alban Hi-Dini on Safari Electronique does not disappoint. Kicks and flickering hats open 'Ringiespiel before the appearance of a brashly fricative snare and distracting low-end burbling. Soon a caged beast starts growling as swaying, decaying tones shower the dancefloor with granular sparks. ‘Valencia’ is a calmer affair, a four-note bassline of tones droning so slowly you can hear the cogs turn and barely-there conga patterns. It all sways at Aguayo tempo before in saunters a delicious melody built from reverberant glass vessels. Surely this sound has become a trademarked preset, but Italoboyz shove it through delay and crunk until it emerges in shattered, frayed strands. B-side 'Frosted' is the least assuming. Back at normal speed, the atmosphere is busy with the whistles and chirps of digital birdlife. A snare gurgles from an undersea radio, commanding percussion scatters into chunks and elastic synth lines weave themselves into recognizable cells. Where the other tracks are set up quickly and then plough repeated ground, ‘Frosted’ relies more on build and remove. All make for an understated and charming record. Do check out their website – it’s hilarious.
RA