Reviews
June: 10 drum 'n' bass releases you need to hear this month
Drums, bass and vibes
Icicle 'Differentia EP' (Shogun Audio)
According to Jedi Icicle (pictured above), looking for “identity” within the tech-step sound was the primary aim for this EP full of pleasant curveballs. Lead track ‘The Nothing’, a collaboration with Tasha Baxter, boasts some unapologetically emo vocals soaring to sorrowful heights before a great chugging thresher of a tech break sluices all traces away. But it’s title track ‘Differentia’ that pushes the boat out: far wonkier than we’re used to, this chopped-up staccato skeleton of a robostepper sounds like it should be a Rockwell experiment, and with each listen a fresh sonic strand bubbles to the surface. Pockmarked with gaps and absences, the patchwork of gratings and Radiohead-esque snare shuffles schlock along beneath bleepy wibblings and hoarse, horror-tinged whisperings. It’s relentlessly inventive.
8/10
