- Strange twists on Shackleton, footwork and weightless.
- When Raime left Blackest Ever Black, they left their old selves behind. Their hefty music transformed into a leftfield version of weightless grime by the time Raime landed on Different Circles last year. It's arranged in staccato figures, played out by synthetic instruments, then interrupted and transformed by bizarre samples. Planted, Raime's second release for their new label, is one of their strangest records yet. Where their last EP was inspired by the information overload of online culture, this one seems inspired by the fast-and-heavy arms race of modern dance music itself.
You might hear some Shackleton in the repetitive, mallet-like drum patterns on "Num" or the bouncy "Ripli," where pitched-down voices groan, strings whirr and drums rattle. It's pure Raime, but not once the track rockets into light-speed footwork. The rapid groove and sputtering vocal of "Kella" is even more intense. Where Raime's last EP, We Can't Be That Far From The Beginning, featured phrases ripped from YouTube videos, Planted just grunts and groans. The song titles are short and nonsensical, the rhythms hyper instead of hypnotic. Planted's cold, inhuman recalls Raime's earliest tracks, but it's sleek, aerodynamic and primed for the dance floor. And as inventive as ever.
TracklistA1 Num
A2 Ripli
B1 Kella
B2 Belly