- Matt Tolfrey's Leftroom has upped the ante considerably over the past few months with releases on three separate labels – big daddy Leftroom and sub-labels Leftroom Limited and Is This. Making hay while the minimal sun shines as it were. And as is the way with most ventures, as the output goes up, the quality control begins to suffer – case in point being Ito and Star's original of 'Sudoko Kid', which has so little going for it they might not have bothered. The nasty flat kick, proggy brooding bass, 303 gurgles and occasional hiss plod along for a good five minutes, before an annoying one-note stab drifts in. You can smell the 'dramatic' break coming… yup, there it is. The bleating stab carries through almost until closing time. Not good enough.
Salvation comes in the shape of a fine remix from the increasingly interesting Alexi Delano and Xpansul, who up raise both game and tempo. Taking little from the original apart from the dry drums and austere approach, they create a sleek, busy bubbler that works very effectively in the mix. Hell, even that annoying stab gets a second chance at success – MKII a subtle but key element, getting phased, filtered and tweaked into action. As with their previous work on Plus8, the intricate percussion is a joy to behold (if that sort of thing makes you happy): fills, rattles and rolls snaking in and out of the mix, constantly changing as the track progresses - it's the kind of thing that you’ll be interested in even if you think you're not. Add two effective drops and you've got yerself a winner. The good ship Leftroom is steadied.
TracklistA Ito and Star – Sudoko Kid
B Ito and Star – Sudoko Kid (Alexi Delano and Xpansul Remix)