- This is Sam Kid's second solo EP under his El Kid alias. The first, which came out on Immerse earlier this year, was yet another instance of a "house" record appearing on a "dubstep" label—a very 2011 record, in other words. But there was also plenty of character in the way it dialed down broken 4/4 grooves. Kid's Hypnosis EP for Bristol's left_blank label is even better, showing off more fully formed musical ideas across a wider stylistic range, and boasting a sound as nuanced as it is visceral.
The title track indulges in a full minute of glowing, Jan Jelinek-esque beatless burble before it pulls itself into focus. The swinging 130-BPM groove and ominous, basso synths draw upon classic dubstep. But what really makes the tune is the way it keeps shapeshifting, moving from idea to idea, adding and subtracting elements, lithe and forceful but never bulky.
"Mud" is a slow, 4/4 cut with shades of Actress and Urban Tribe, led by blocky, open chords; there are lasers and whipcracks, electric drones and kalimba-like melodies—a sumptuous fusion of the cybernetic and the organic. It's more linear, stumbling numbly forward through fizz and fireworks, but again, no two bars are alike. Slightly quicker, "Kachinja" sticks to a trudging 4/4 cadence, plying hazy chords over an endless stream of modular gurgles; all ash and incandescent glow. Walton, who released his debut EP on Hyperdub this year, remixes "Hypnosis" in a sort of slow-motion UK funky style, nominally four-to-the-floor but rocked by syncopated snares and toms. It's an intriguingly Spartan interpretation of El Kid's big-time sensuality.
Tracklist A1 Hypnosis
A2 Mud
B1 Kachinja
B2 Hypnosis (Walton Dub)