- Narcotic Syntax are not indulging in any misdirection with this release – the title calls it percussion and it is indeed pure percussion. These are club tools not songs (unlike their recent work on Perlon).
Narcotic Syntax are, however, indulging in their customary eccentricity. In a sharp left turn away from the simple, clinical rhythms of most current club music, these four tracks have baroque, layered and twisting patterns which bring to mind serried rows of drummers bashing away in perfect time.
The most exciting thing about this direction, which is also reminiscent of some of Stephan Goldmann’s recent work, is that it hints at ways to bring back some of the panache and showiness that have been exorcised from the mainstream of minimal without the tired baggage of more conventional ‘Latin’ or ‘funky’ records (although there is a clear Latin influence here).
These tracks are unlikely to appeal to a wide audience in their current form. For people who appreciate pure drumming and are willing to listen to tracks gradually evolve over several minutes, there is artistry and pleasing rhythmic complexity. For DJs wanting to splice and dice with some of that new-fangled laptop software there are biting and effective grooves. And for geeks and obsessives there are new ideas and interesting points of reference.
However more casual listeners may want to wait for a forthcoming Narcotic Syntax album with the same ‘provocative’ production, but a more song-based approach. The signs are that such an album could be stunning.