To be honest, lately I’ve been quite crazy about the dusty sketches of house music that the U.S. keeps slapping in our faces. In particular the label Opal Tapes is excelling in this area, once again proven by their release of Masks’ »Food Plus Drugs (II)«. In the first instance, the promising sounding 12", consisting of four tracks, leaves no wish unfulfilled and delivers the desired kind of smoky sound, embedded in arching melodies, drawn with casual lines. In short, it’s exactly the attitude of cool that we all expected. Max Ravitz (known as Patricia, one half of Inhalants) and Alexis Georgopoulos (known as ARP, one third of The Alps), run the first 30 minutes in the most adept manner, but fail to provide us with the big bang. Don’t get me wrong, »Food Plus Drugs (II)« is a good release. However, it doesn’t live up to the comparisons that have been drawn in this context. At least on this 12", Masks‘ music neither provides the atmospheric sensitivity of a Huerco S nor the rhythmic variation of Prostitutes or the unforceful drasticality of Container Still, Masks hint at their specialness through their final track »Fragile Feelings«, which is full of ambient indulgence. It’s quite impressive, this distant rattling.
Food Plus Drug (II)
