Optimo/Various

As a label, Eskimo has been skirting the outside of a number of trends in the last little while, but they’ve consistently managed to sidestep the limelight just enough with their left-of-centre approach to avoid the eventual takedown that comes with über-hipness. Their latest release, by Scottish DJ team Optimo, is an experiment in fusing psychedelia and three a.m. club thumpers, an attractive notion if there ever was one. With a track list that reads as a mix-taper’s wet dream, the eclecticism travels as far and wide as Hawkwind, Silver Apples, Kompakt, Herbie Hancock, Throbbing Gristle, Simple Minds, the Stranglers, no-wave stalwarts Dinosaur, and the Temptations. Having already scored full-points for deep and varied crates, the actual mix builds from druggy atmospherics to, well, druggy euphoria. The set does take a few missteps occasionally, but Optimo are banking on ambition to get through this one, and it pays off. Well worth it.