Wertheimer - Brandished

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  • Wertheimer is an unusual signing for Lex Records, which was once Warp's hip-hop subsidiary and is now a standalone entity with Danger Mouse and Gnarls Barkley on its roster. Then again, the Dusseldorf-based artist's oddball, techno-textured work would stick out on any label, and he offers up a strong three-track debut. "Brandished," taking up nine minutes of the A-side, is an ambitious opener—its long, barbed bass notes, flattening on impact, recall the prickly work of Objekt, but the high-pitched squeals lighten the mood considerably. There's a fleet-footed touch to it that self-serious techno DJs wouldn't touch, and the track practically skips through its runtime, switching to a swung beat during its waffly 8-bit breakdown before closing out with a whining synth. The flip side could've been taken from another release altogether. "French Styrofoam" has precision drum hits that give it a Raster-Noton-does-funk vibe, reinforced by a single chord that gets pitched up and down. It's stiff and groovy all at once. Then, as if Wertheimer's setup fell apart, "Black On Glue" slowly assembles itself from broken parts, collecting into an off-kilter climax of ominous chorus pads and piano. It seems as if the EP can't quite decide what it wants to be, but when the material is this strong, that doesn't really matter.
  • Tracklist
      A Brandished B1 French Styrofoam B2 Black Glue
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