VA: Lo-Fi Soundsystem
Intrusion / Echospace

This predictably splendid twelve-inch from Stephen Hitchell's Intrusion / Echospace stable serves up four cuts by Intrusion, Lo-Fi Soundsystem, and Mildiou that are aromatic and tropical in the extreme. The A-side's opener “Velocity In A Minor,” a funky tech-house stepper sprinkled with subtle dub production touches by Hitchell under the Intrusion guise ( Hitchell also records under the Soultek and Variant names), grooves mightily for an economical six minutes, after which Lo-Fi Soundsystem takes a rootsier plunge in “De Lions Den” with skanky chords and melodica-styled melodies flickering over a bass-heavy swing. Like a shark gliding through deep waters in search of prey, Mildiou's “De Natura Rerum” slithers through bass-heavy waters in classic Echospace tradition. Like “De Lions Den,” “De Natura Rerum” opts for a deep, Rhythm & Sound-styled dub vibe that owes as much to Berlin as it does Jamaica, while the second B-side cut, Intrusion's “OceanView,” is as dubbily deep as its title suggests. Listeners basking in the serene settings featured on recent Echospace full-lengths by Brock Van Wey (White Clouds Drift On and On) and Variant (The Setting Sun) might be surprised to discover how uptempo and aggressive the Lo-Fi Soundsystem material is by comparison.

November 2009