I-Land - Cybernautics EP

Frigio

If you were listening closely to Frigio head Juanpablo’s Bleep43 podcast from last year, you would have spotted a corking tune about halfway in: “Cybernautics & Neuro-Antics” from Lektroluxe. From a frankly mundane name to a frankly bizarre one, the newly re-christened I-Land Beat has now propagated that cut into a full EP.

“Cybernautics & Neuro-Antics” is the best track on it; nine minutes of corkscrewing, driving techno and wrong in the right way. The influence of the Detroit originators is clear in the bassline and the weaving melodies one step removed from hooks, but there’s also a welcome Rephlex feel in the uneasy synth stabs.

The more electro-influenced “Sixtynine” takes a while to get going from a plodding start, and doesn’t add much. Too slow to get down to, repeat listens reveal little beyond the superficial. “Back2Basic5” has the opposite problem, starting as a fantastic warehouse bleep homage before developing ADHD. Snare rolls manifest from nowhere, and other elements drop in and out at random. I can only imagine this is meant to add dynamic interest, but unfortunately it becomes rapidly tiresome.

“Preambl3” is a functional acid workout, which holds more back to better effect. The tinkering doesn’t stop entirely though, and in the dying thirty seconds the track even threatens to become a thundering Liebing / Coxy / Väth big room monster. Your tolerance for such may vary, but it does seem to show that Mr Beat knows his way around a dancefloor. More focus on that might have left us in for further treats like the opening track.

Sam Stagg

Frigio Records