- If you can name an electronic music style, chances are Romanian producer Liar has at least referenced it at some point over the last few years. His latest release for growing Montreal label Infinite Machine sets its sights on Night Slugs-style hybrid club music, and it's his most confident release yet, gobbling up signifiers from all sorts of genres and spitting out the pieces like a woodchipper.
"Ha-REM" mashes a flashy array of ideas—swirling synths, jackhammer drums, "ha"-stabs and a funeral-march melody—into something relentless that rarely stays still for longer than a bar. It's almost too overstuffed, but that's part of the fun. The VIP mix that strips it down to a bare percussive track is nowhere near as interesting. "Hyper-Ego" is equally eclectic, dominated by trance synths and pan flutes. Some over-the-top snare rolls trace a thread of irony through its otherwise hulking swagger.
"Club Med" and "Key Party" both make use of powerful diva samples. On the former the voice is strangled, part of an ominous rush of growling bass and booming drums. The effect is powerful and unsettling. This approach is less effective on "Key Party"—the sample sounds like it wandered over from some overcooked drum & bass tune, and a guitar-like synth makes it all a bit hair-metal. Two relatively inessential remixes from Canadian artists Foba and Spurz don't do much to improve it, while the chunky '80s pastiche of "The Ballad Of Scorpio" feels unadventurous in comparison. It rounds off an uneven package that still sounds notable even when it puts the wrong foot forward.
Tracklist01. Hyper-Ego
02. Key Party
03. Club Medz
04. Ha-REM
05. Ha-REM VIP
06. Key Party (Foba Remix)
07. Key Party (Spurz 'Key Bump Edit)
08. The Ballad of Scorpio