- Jamal Moss is probably not going to make any drastic left turns at this point in his career. The Chicago producer has been creating consistently gritty, occasionally jarring house compositions for more than a decade, tracks that simultaneously remain true to a blueprint of tradition and bear the stamp of his devotion to experimentalism and DIY ethics. Moss's recent EP under his Hieroglyphic Being guise, A Visitor from Someone Else's Memories, contains all of these hallmarks; its four tracks are smothered in that trademark cassette fuzz, teeming with abstract acid lines and delirious synths.
Nevertheless, A Visitor... isn't simply "more of the same." The industrial noise component of Hieroglyphic Being has been toned down considerably here, leaving Moss to operate in lush, psychedelic mode. The EP kicks off with "Ravished by the Truth," a relentless, beautifully spaced out Mr. Fingers-esque stunner that ought to appeal to anyone with a predilection for the ethereal haze of late '80s cassette-recorded WBMX shows. This is followed up by the brief, beatless "The Visitation," recalling Newworldaquarium in its slow, woozy percolation, with some acidic structures kicking in over the last twenty seconds.
On the B-side, "Sacrifices of the Heart Part 1" features looping mournful flute atop a drum pattern that I'm going to hesitantly describe as tribal, with a few builds throughout. It's the most idiosyncratic track here, but wouldn't be ill-suited as a DJ tool. Finally, on the title track, Moss's penchant for ear-splitting pitches rears its head, with a noisy, incessantly filtered acid line atop clattering percussion. Although the tumult factor is high, there's so much going on that it's difficult not to be hypnotized by it. These tracks aren't totally surprising, but they do represent exciting refinements in a wildly distinctive career.
Tracklist A1 Ravished By The Truth
A2 The Visitation
B1 A Visitor From Someones Memories
B2 Sacrifices Of The Heart Part 1