Grimlusk - Aprem Tendancieuse (2018)

For those who are already familiar with Grim Lusk’s varied recording projects, established elements are further developed as sublimely demonstrated on the sample and loop based ‘Search’, an abstract blunted dub / hip-hop excursion that echoes the unconventional experimentalism of WordSound Records / Sensational. Shuffles, ricochets and shimmers before becoming more narcotic like a subdued dreamy languor.

Free from constraints, transcending into ‘It’s My Nature’, as all of that serotonin depletion is suddenly transformed into nutritional sustenance. A scintillating hallucinogenic, hypnotic collage of exotic rhythmic disco percussion patterns which organically blossoms and glistens, ascending to the sky above like the feathery wildlife spreading their wings on the front sleeve with uninhibited adventure and freedom; a luscious, evocative, beguiling anomaly. ‘Sea Club-Rush’ further develops the experimental shape shifting, with a dense, drowsy sludgy quagmire of oddball tekno discombobulations, before the record submerges into the deepest of voids, a k-hole induced sense of purposeful confusion and disorientation.

Depressurised as if drifting in the mysterious vacuum of space or a vast ocean whilst subtle layers of distorted bass prod at you to keep you afloat, ‘It’s Happening’ utilises a descending Shepard – Risset Glissando to leave you barely clinging on to reality, the tone appears to fall continuously in pitch almost as if you are experiencing an astral projection that is submerging under an ominous iceberg strewn antarctic ocean, trapped within a dissociated nightmare that you can’t escape. ‘Yes He Did’ has an infectious and killer bouncing boogie bass guitar spread over a slippery, lopsided beat which never quite settles; weaving in and out further bewitching your mind.

The record culminates in the downtempo ‘Laces’, pulling you into the all-consuming squelch and pressure of the suction below; a claustrophobic suffocation that intensely builds up suspense, squeezing and melting as it develops. Reminiscent of Sherwood’s exceptional technique of incisively slicing, cutting and pasting manipulated dub / industrial percussion, ‘Laces’ works equally well at 45rpm.

In its fullness, the sounds presented on ‘SUNP0101’ are an intoxicating slip down a neon-lined chute into eternal dance floor darkness.