London Modular Alliance - Cracked Dice by CPU RECORDS published on 2021-03-03T08:47:25Z In one sense Central Processing Unit is familiar territory for London Modular Alliance - group members Pip Williams (Phil Ventre) and Koova (Gavin Pkyerman) have both dropped EPs through the Sheffield label in the past, the former offering outer-space street-soul on 2017's Outer Limits after Koova had channelled Drexciya for 2015's This Is Not My Future. However, the Cracked Dice EP represents the first time that the trio have come through on CPU in full force, with Simon Lynch completing the lineup alongside Koova and Williams here. Cracked Dice finds them on top form, blending broken-beat machine-funk grooves with latent house and rave tendencies to thrilling effect. Cracked Dice is ushered in by the weightless atmospherics of its title-track. The combination of synth washes and gurgling electronics here sounds so alien that it could pass for a piece of incidental music from 'The X-Files', but things don't stay that way for long - the track soon snaps into a stargazing club joint in the Detroit mode, one in which spaceship synth wobbles are pushed onwards by lithe, rumbling sub-bass. The combo comes off like an interstellar throwdown between the Midwestern masters of old and modern practitioners of UK soundsystem techno stylings - Lurka, Batu and the like. Following number 'Head Of The Keeper' maintains the energy of its predecessor, warping junglist archetypes around a breakbeat stomp in a manner reminiscent of Special Request. London Modular Alliance's brand of electro has always been marked out by its playfulness, a feature derived from how snappy drum and synth programming anchor the group's off-the-cuff improvisation. That sensibility is apparent throughout the entirety of this EP, but perhaps nowhere more so than on first B-side cut 'Chemical Peel'. 'Chemical Peel' is at once stiff-necked and rubbery, the hissing hats and old-skool breaks phasing in and out of a boinging bassline which is pure Mr. Fingers goodness. That machine-funk scuttle carries through to closing track 'Lemon Mishap', a piece of insectoid acid-funk so gnarly it will have the crowd convinced that they're hearing the DJ receive an alien transmission in real time. Cracked Dice sees esteemed electro dons London Modular Alliance whip up machine-funk, junglism and Midwestern house/techno into a quartet of club tools which are as sleek and futuristic as a lazerbeam. FFO: Baby T, Batu, Jensen Interceptor, Mr. Fingers, Special Request Genre Techno Comment by Xan Drailleb ùù 2023-01-13T19:31:22Z Comment by DJ MÖSSA love it 2022-05-07T13:04:39Z Comment by Drozza wild 2021-09-07T20:35:09Z Comment by Kässar deem dis good 2021-05-27T10:10:25Z Comment by spacer_woman.exe nice 2021-05-15T15:37:25Z Comment by CRP blackdog - bytes vibes on this , dope 2021-05-02T20:18:38Z Comment by risolee deep 2021-04-30T09:03:24Z Comment by Torre WHAT?!!! 2021-04-20T12:15:32Z Comment by jadzia yeah 2021-04-08T19:24:04Z Comment by neukila this one 2021-04-06T00:39:42Z Comment by Outré Oro yup 2021-03-26T09:01:37Z Comment by Outré Oro yup 2021-03-26T09:01:21Z Comment by Nikita Bondarenko sick sound 2021-03-17T11:15:13Z Comment by Allied Mastercomputer Yea, verily 2021-03-16T02:07:53Z Comment by Allied Mastercomputer Fudge 2021-03-16T02:07:41Z Comment by Allied Mastercomputer Dope 2021-03-16T02:06:19Z Comment by Allied Mastercomputer Vibin' 2021-03-16T02:05:49Z Comment by ZAKDS @ssid_drift 2021-03-10T14:01:50Z Comment by Efraim Kent yes!! 2021-03-06T22:17:52Z Comment by DVS NME This last track stands out big time. 2021-03-05T16:15:32Z Comment by Medias Res Serious stuff 2021-03-05T12:43:57Z Comment by CPU RECORDS Lemon Mishap 2021-03-03T08:54:08Z Comment by CPU RECORDS Chemical Peel 2021-03-03T08:53:51Z Comment by CPU RECORDS Head of the Keeper 2021-03-03T08:52:33Z Comment by CPU RECORDS Cracked Dice 2021-03-03T08:52:08Z