- As card-carrying hardware purists, The Analogue Cops have benefitted considerably from the recent turn towards raw house and techno. But their grotty rhythm tracks have never quite achieved the acclaim enjoyed by lo-fi heroes (like Kassem Mosse, for instance). Possibly that's down to their grooves, which are often rather lumpy, as if they're trudging through treacle. It could also be their willingness to turn out barebones productions with no pretensions of appeal beyond the dance floor.
Either way, 2013 has been business as usual for the duo, with the release of their solid debut LP, Heavy Hands. The Partytodance EP, for French label Fragil Musique, features four slices of the usual rough and tumble techno. In "ACLive-x02," gaseous chords and a sighing vocal sample seem to be striving for rave euphoria, but instead they're shoved between toughened drums. "AC-Snatchsquad," with its methodically revolving synth and looped vocals, is tunnel-vision techno of a sort, cumbersome but seriously effective. "AC-LPARIS1" is the only minor blemish, the duo not quite managing to arrange the usual discordant menagerie of sounds into coherence. Fortunately all is redeemed by the title track, a sample workout with a few surprises up its sleeve. Like all of The Analogue Cops' best music, it's both bold and puzzling.
Tracklist A1 AC-LiveX02
A2 AC-Snatchsquad
B1 AC-Partytodance
B2 AC-Lparis1