- It takes at least three listens to really get a handle on Joey Anderson's Come Behind The Tree: one to be thrilled, one to be confused and the third to relax and revel in its strangeness. The 12-inch is one of the warmest and weirdest of 2013, giving the Parisian label, distributor and record store Syncrophone a marquee release from the New Jersey producer.
"Ass Kicked" starts with a squirrelly kick drum that's masked by a pulse of engorged synths. It's a Basic Channel blueprint with a raised heartbeat, the dominant synth lead continuing to inflate and retreat throughout the track. Chord stabs emerge with an angry squawk, tempered by lovely handclaps before accelerating into acid itchiness. It's like Anderson couldn't decide which element was best, so he left them all to battle for equal footing. "Sunday Is Brunch" is less immediate only because it lacks the taut arrangement of "Ass Kicked," though the husky vocal sample, mewling synths and drum machines remain memorable, even in the crowded field of unhinged analog techno. Come Behind The Tree is Anderson's fourth record of 2013, and it just might be his best of the year.
Tracklist A Ass Kicked
B Sunday Is Brunch