Vadim Lankov: Forcefield EP
Living Records

Forcefield EP offers a tidy, four-track sampling of trippy tech-house by Vadim Lankov, a Moscow, Russia-based electronic music producer who's been issuing material since 2006. His Living Records' debut gets moving when “Forcefield” overlays a happy-go-lucky, booty-shaking groove with a laconic voice-over of the title and a grab bag of creaks, slams, and other wacky sounds. The house burner “Expectation” thumps and skips determinedly for six cheeky minutes, with its heavily-cranked second half upping the intensity a good number of notches. Club raver “Pitch Bitch” catches one's ear with its combination of monotone bass throb, rambunctious beat skip, and, in particular, the wildly tweaked “bitch” voice element that Lankov sprays like so much graffiti over the track. The slightly ominous “White There” brings the EP to an off-kilter close by slathering swooping horn lines over a clickety beat structure and hyperactive bass pulse. There's nothing terribly genre-advancing happening here (though “Pitch Bitch” comes close) but nothing Lankov need be embarrassed about either. At the very least, Forcefield EP offers an economical snapshot of the producer's work .

November 2009