Komet: P.S.T
False Industries

False Industries, the Tel Aviv-based imprint managed by Yair Etziony, welcomes Komet (aka Raster-Noton co-founder Frank Bretschneider) to its stable for the label's third digital release. P.S.T includes three Komet originals along with five stylistically varied remixes by Logreybeam, Donnacha Costello (under the MSF guise), Tramway V, Dieb, and Etziony himself. Those familiar with past Komet releases will already know that his new tracks are polished exercises in electronic beatsmithing and atmospheric design that straddle minimal and maximal worlds.

“P.S.T 05” enters the scene restrainedly with a laid-back feel and delicate ambient atmospheres but then grows in energy as it develops into a gently grooving cut—the perfect track for easing into a club set. The second Bretschneider original, “Clap 05,” gets its groove on from the first moment when a low-end, almost tribal beat pulsates with powerful insistence; more house than techno, the tune swings with a bass-throbbing vibe that makes it easy to picture the dance floor getting crowded when the beats roll out. The final Komet track, “Flight 09,” initially pulls back a little from the clubby feel of “Clap 05” but then takes flight when a minimal hi-hat pattern appears to help move the bass-thudding bottom end along.

Etziony's “P.S.T” makeover hits harder than Komet's original, as the False Industries captain works the tune into a deeply funky house track powered by a throbbing bass and ornamented with droning textures. The “Clap 05” treatments by Logreybeam and MSF are dramatically different. Not surprisingly, Gabe Morley, whose Logreybeam material has appeared on City Centre Offices and Type, opts for a rather entropic, electronica-styled treatment that downplays the dance dimension of the original and instead shifts the focus to textural layering. Costello's MSF version turns it into a techno throwdown replete with classic cymbal flourishes and bubbly synth broil that churns and growls for a fabulous six minutes. Somewhat oddly, P.S.T doesn't include Komet's “Stream” original, though two remixes of the cut do appear, with Dieb's a snappy minimal techno treatment and Tramway V's a windswept dubstep overhaul. The EP's eight tracks add up to a generous and wide-ranging forty-six minutes so there's lots for the listener to dig into.

October 2010