- London's Public Information label got off to one hell of a start last year. Opening with the one-two punch of definition-skirting, zeitgeisty meanderings from ADR and No UFO's, the label took a hard left with Electronics Without Tears, an essential collection of foundational electronic music from radiophonic pioneer Frederick Judd. It's something of a dangerous proposition to pair classic with contemporary, but the label's mission statement of sorts—"1950-Tomorrow. New-Archive. Light-Dark."—is a fascinating one in this retro-maniacal, YouTube-addled moment. Bristol's Nick Edwards, AKA Ekoplekz, has been the embodiment of this attitude for the last few years, releasing music on labels as diverse as Further, Perc Trax and Punch Drunk that sound both vintage and crispy-fresh (and surprisingly label-appropriate).
His Public Information debut, the Dromilly Vale EP, continues this journey: whether caught in a thick drone or on a minimalist musique concrete tangent, Ekoplekz's latest is as outside of time as it is right in the moment. On opener "Dick Mill Blues," we get something surprisingly songlike—zaps and delay lines dancing around a sluggish but straightforwardly post-punk bassline. As residual gurgles subside, "Dromilly Vale" enters with a moan of a melody and panning, dubbed out squelches that evoke the sort of seasickness you might experience on a ghost ship. After the cartoon-like "Neutronik" interlude, we get the noisily loping "Jugglin' Fer Jesus," the collection's most minimalist and perhaps catchy inclusion. "Clayton Freak," meanwhile, has a ghostly melody Schoenberg might have dreamed up had he spent his days noodling on a bass guitar in his parents' suburban garage. It makes for an awesomely creepy ending to an EP you're not likely to shake off anytime soon.
Tracklist A1 Dick Mills Blues
A2 Dromilly Vale
B1 Neutronik
B2 Jugglin' Fer Jesus
B3 Clayton Freak