Physical Therapy - Yes I'm Elastic

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  • Safety Net, Physical Therapy's EP for Hippos In Tanks, was a bizarre hybrid of rave, techno and pop, where silky diva vocals collided with frenetic breakbeats, and sugary childlike voices peppered James Ferraro-esque synth tracks. Though some of its beats were identifiably techno, the whole EP was such a hodgepodge that they got lost in its odd soup. On his debut for Fifth Wall, however, Physical Therapy makes his techno leanings all too explicit. He pitches down his own vocals for the rigid title track, using them as rhythmic accents along with jangling percussion and synths that crunch and gurgle pleasantly. More robotic vocals and swishy synths lend a characteristically oddball touch to the machine funk of "World On Fire." But "I Did," whose three incarnations take up two thirds of the EP's runtime, is excruciating. Physical Therapy reels off techno notables in a bored and heavily processed voice: "Who killed—Robert Hood. Who killed—Seth Troxler. Who killed—Juan Atkins," and so on. Maybe the intention is to show up the inherently reactionary nature of the scene, or perhaps it's a clumsily executed homage. Either way, not even a particularly garish synth can alleviate the tedium. The plodding lines are pitched down (for all his wackiness, Physical Therapy's palette is narrow) and lavishly reverbed on the alternate version. Though the snappy snares and deep kicks on J Tijn's remix are welcome, they do little to lessen the vocals' grating quality.
  • Tracklist
      A1 Yes, I'm Elastic A2 I Did B1 World on Fire B2 I Did (J. Tijn Remix)
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