GRIT - Luke Vibert (Hypercolour)

 

Title: GRIT

Artist: Luke Vibert

Label: Hypercolour

Cat Number: HYPELP021

Genre: Whimsical 303 Rave Riddimz

1: Surrounded By Neighbours

2: Decay Hole

3: Partron

4: Gas Logs

5: Grit

6: Swingeing Cuts

7: Weed Killah

8: Disco Derriere

9: Afterning

10: Mornoon

11: Xanalog

12: Screwfix Typeface

Another year, another Luke Vibert magnum opus. After his 2020 trilogy for Hypercolour he’s back to show that his sense of mischief is still one of his most defining characteristics. ‘Disco Derriere’ contains so much of Pepe Bradock’s ‘Deep Burnt’ that it may as well be an edit. However, it’s a 303 line which layers the track to perfection, and this is the most pervasive aspect of this album. Vibert knows the limits and complexities of the 303 better than anyone and is constantly inventive on this record. He sidesteps expectation in the most delicate of ways on ‘Gas Logs’, which sounds like the type of track Cygnus would make if electro hadn’t been invented, and evokes claustrophobia on ‘Surrounded By Neighbours’ with some imaginative squelching. Similarly, ‘Swingeing Cuts’ fluctuates in intensity, aided by some classic rave piano and an interlude that puts me in mind of an abstract recorder. ‘Weed Killah’ makes use of a slightly dissonant synth wash to couch some noodly acid, and ‘Xanalog’ occasionally threatens to run away with itself on the off beat. I feel it’s at it’s best on tracks like ‘Afterning’ and ‘Decay Hole’ which as well as the prevalent 303, also feel dreamy and slightly off kilter, reminding me slightly of the production pioneered by artists such as Ford & Lopatin (Games). The beginning of the title track and ‘Partron’ is another example of this. Small, nostalgic whiffs insistently deployed for your evocative pleasure.