Dartriix: Dartriix EP.2
Op.disc

Ditch: Precede Me
Op.disc

If EP 2 is unimaginatively-titled, its three tracks more than compensate. As they did on their maiden voyage, Dartriix members (and Op.disc co-owners) Fumiya Tanaka and Radiq (aka Yoshihiro Hanno) bring a fresh artistic sensibility to their dance constructions. The most distinctive cut is the eleven-minute opener, “Superposition,” which begins its journey with a deep rumble and swizzling textures before kicking into a crisp house pulse that grows tighter with each passing second. The trip's next checkpoint appears three minutes in when a possessed voice is given a royal shaking and a light sawing pattern surfaces as accompaniment. With the groove now burbling and clapping, a meandering synth melody appears, and sleepily stretches itself out over the re-energized, now-acidy pulse. “Salvia,” by comparison, is oddly subdued, with Dartriix muffling its intensity and animated activity, while samples of gravelly speaking voices stream over a sweetly swinging, dubbed-out pulse in “SYD.”

Ditch's (Shin-ichiro Kono) Precede Me brings Op.disc into the foundsound orbit inhabited by Microcosm and Goosehound, two labels for which the Japan expatriate previously has recorded (Macrofun vol 6, Vizard EP). A typical Kono track weds two levels: an abstract swirl of chopped voices and instrument fragments in the upper tier, stabilized by a driving minimal house foundation in the lower. “Oaob4” gets things grooving immediately, with a rubbery, bass-heavy pulse hurtling forwards accompanied by a mixed bag of piano sprinkles, pipa strums, voice edits, and clickety accents. The slightly more audacious “Jap” smears edits liberally over a snappily surging pulse, while bells, murmurs, and a bicycle ring spread out over a banging pulse in the alternately jittery and swinging “Found.” “Mysterious Hoze” heads home in a slightly different direction, opting to layer a jazzy bass solo over a poppy electro strut that picks up steam halfway through. Ditch fans will want to keep an eye out for an Op.disc full-length scheduled for a late summer release.

July 2007