Hrdvsion: Right In EP
Living Records

Under the Hrdvsion alias, Nathan Jonson (brother of Wagon Repair's Matthew Jonson) produces four wonky slabs of experimental techno on this Living Records eyebrow-raiser. It's somewhat of an oddball recording—by design, presumably—that spotlights contrasting sides of the Vancouver Island-based producer's artistic sensibility.

The hard techno stepper “Right In” sweeps into position with a huge, syncopated synth stab that Jonson twists using reverb into metallic clangor for nearly seven tension-filled minutes. It's certainly dancefloor-friendly enough, though it would be a stretch to say the same about the EP's second cut, “peap svm i Hsim i,” which sounds as enigmatic as its title when glimmering synth burbles meander in discordant directions over a sleepy, downtempo pulse for three perplexed (and perplexing) minutes. Slightly more conventional by comparison, “Come On Dance Your Ass” locks roller-coaster synth patterning into place before unleashing a grimey lead bass line that arm-wrestles with it for supremacy for a solidly jacking dozen minutes of lockstep groovesmithing. The EP closes with “Oh, It's Mastered,” a crunked-out, glitch-heavy techno workout that could pass for Aphex Twin taking a stab at wonky techno during a free afternoon. Clearly not intended for those who like their dance music served straight up and its edges smoothed off, Right In is nominally techno but hardly of the standard issue variety.

February 2010