Joane Skyler - sssssssss (2014) Lossless

*Edition of 300 copies pressed on coloured vinyl, mastered and cut by Matt Colton* With only one release to her name so far, the excellent "Orz" tape for the Reckno label, plus a regular show on NTS, the producer who may or not be a pseudonym for visual artist Jason Kerley returns here with her first release pressed to wax, a 30-minute odyssey that glides into the hardcore continuum and re-shapes various forms and formulations of electronic music along the way. "sssssssss" is a 30 minute trip split into two continuous sides that run like a mixtape, coming to life on the frazzled low-end modulation "Fingerbang", through the fractured, minimized UKG overhaul "Swoon", the delicate, micrsocopic electronics of "Sex Smell" and the growling mentasm Grime of "No Liquid". We can't think of many records we've had through our doors that borrow as much from the UK techno/Artificial Inteligence espoused by the likes of the early 90's Likemind label as they do from the frequency fuckery of Evol and Playstation engineered Grime and Garage - but Skyler manages it effortlessly. The standout moment of the album comes with "Langwellig", conjuring the spirit of early rave with the barest ingredients, lost in a haze of ferric smoke that feeds into the next transition on this forever-shifting trip...