Troy Pierce: Run
Minus

Weaned on a steady diet of Derrick Carter, Jeff Mills, and Richie Hawtin at underground parties in Chicago and Detroit, one-time New York and current Berlin resident Troy Pierce (also one-third of Run Stop Restore alongside Marc Houle and Magda) throws down some mighty wicked tech-house bounce on the four-track Run. A palpable tension between anchoring bass burble and constellating blips and clatter pulsates throughout the barely contained burner “King Contrary Man,” after which Pierce submerges “Scene15” into a slithering low-end swamp of woozy contortions. Heartthrob spills his predatorial growl all over “Girl Down by the River” but the tune's more notable for the epic throb and spindly smears Pierce sculpts into an ominous undertow. While the opening tracks are great, the set's coup de grâce is the tribal stomper “Horse Nation” which impresses most when Pierce sweetens an entrancing groove with supremely funky percussive breaks. Run's 'psycho-reactive' minimalism deftly demonstrates that minimal needn't mean lifeless.

December 2005