MLZ: Alice Loop
Modern Love

Created by MLZ (aka Miles Whittaker, who partners with Gary Howell under the Pendle Coven name) as a tribute to the late Alice Coltrane “with an elusive set of sound sources used in the construction of this track” (presumably, then, camouflaged samples of Alice's work), Crossed Swords (Alice Loop) is a one-sided 12-inch release that follows on the heels of the Dark Days debut EP. Snapped to attention by clanging cymbals and a crushing, bottom-heavy stomp, the tune gets seriously moving once pitter-pattering hi-hats and fading hand claps enter the fray. It's anthemic all right, and all the more so when syncopated slams and ringing cymbals initiate a house and techno showdown. Even if one can't suss out the music's connection to Alice Coltrane, one can still bask in the colossal groove MLZ stokes and savour it as one more in a consistently splendid stream of Modern Love releases. A shame, though, that an equally towering MLZ cut couldn't have taken up residence on the other side.

April 2008