Review Dance

Matrixxman

808 State of Mind

Delft • 2014

Tape of the Year 2023

One of the most self-confident producers of late seems to be the San-Francisco based musician Matrixxman. Last year, he made a name for himself with the EP »The XX Files« on which the more than veritable club-hit »Protocol« was to be found. While working together with Mykki Blanco and LE1F through a huge range of rhythmic variation, he once again got the chance to turn cold soundscapes into psychotic pieces. Now, on »808 State Of Mind«, the first record for the newly founded label Delft, he’s gone back to four-four-time. The title suggests some kind of dealing with the topic of the Roland TR-808 drum machine and at the same time with the legendary band 808 State from Manchester, founded around »A Guy Called Gerald« Simpson. Both is probably true. The b-side, in particular, with the tracks »Fires« and »Secret Garden« sounds a lot like 808 State in 1989 (best comparable to »Sunrise«), but has been made with today’s technical possibilities and today’s ideas of sound. In contrast, the a-side is much more dystopian. Especially the title track and also »Procedure« don’t go for euphoria or sexiness – they both push the listener away and at the same time grab him by the scruff of the neck in order to pull him through a forever downwards-spinning vortex into their submarine. Depending on how you’ll feel when not being able to escape the undertow, when not being the master of the situation, you’ll either love or hate such things. Personally, I can’t quite decide.

Buy at HHV
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