Terminal Sound System

After an extended period of dormancy, Australia’s Extreme label has awoken into a world where electronic music has boomed, busted, re-inflated and been turned into balloon animals. One of their first new catalogue additions comes from S. Klein, under the Terminal Sound System alias. While samples of previous self-released work stick closer to the ambient dub realm, Compressor skips across the crest of several different waves. The album’s early tracks are slightly restrained essays on the whiplash drum & bass still practiced by Venetian Snares or Kid606. Elsewhere, there is a dark depth that resembles recent dub step experiments. Eventually, as on "Black Note,” these shuddering blocks of sound are dropped onto the mutated jazz rhythms found in early Photek and ì-Ziq releases. If TSS brings anything individual to the mix it is a fascination with the under sounds and details that lead into the thick of things. Little insect stretches and finger tap fidgets crawl around the periphery, making things even more uncomfortable. Neither overly challenging nor easy listening, surely this is someone’s idea of "just right.”