UK producer Anthoney Hart has certainly kept himself busy this past decade. After diving into his diverse sonic explorations as Imaginary Forces, he's recently donned the East Man and Basic Rhythm aliases, which have seen him harken back to his days as a DJ on pirate radio, where all sorts of UK rave sounds thrived during the '90s and '00s.
On the Threshold largely follows in the same vein as the previous Basic Rhythm records. His music is like a depository of fragmented and angular rhythms taken from IDM, old-school white label grime and the most stripped-back of ragga productions, coalesced and abstracted down to their skeletal components of drums and bass (devoid of any fancy effects touch-ups), and the odd sample or synth.
The two opening tracks, "St. Fabian Tower" and "Yeah, I Like It," are very representative of this, with their warped bass pads and bare bones percussion laying down tightly coiled grooves that are both calculated and fluid. And this ultra-minimalist design makes the vocal samples seem even more disembodied and ghostly than they would otherwise.
It is definitely intriguing, but the album's best moments and surprises come when the energy is turned up, as it is on "Slice Neck" and "Buss It," where we dive into grime's grittiness and dubstep's paranoia. "Edge of Darkness" takes things to an even higher level, channelling the aggressive energy and electricity of the heaviest of techstep tracks, just barely contained within a monstrous, metallic growl.
For anyone that has been following Hart's prolific work, there's no reason why they shouldn't enjoy this.
(Planet Mu)On the Threshold largely follows in the same vein as the previous Basic Rhythm records. His music is like a depository of fragmented and angular rhythms taken from IDM, old-school white label grime and the most stripped-back of ragga productions, coalesced and abstracted down to their skeletal components of drums and bass (devoid of any fancy effects touch-ups), and the odd sample or synth.
The two opening tracks, "St. Fabian Tower" and "Yeah, I Like It," are very representative of this, with their warped bass pads and bare bones percussion laying down tightly coiled grooves that are both calculated and fluid. And this ultra-minimalist design makes the vocal samples seem even more disembodied and ghostly than they would otherwise.
It is definitely intriguing, but the album's best moments and surprises come when the energy is turned up, as it is on "Slice Neck" and "Buss It," where we dive into grime's grittiness and dubstep's paranoia. "Edge of Darkness" takes things to an even higher level, channelling the aggressive energy and electricity of the heaviest of techstep tracks, just barely contained within a monstrous, metallic growl.
For anyone that has been following Hart's prolific work, there's no reason why they shouldn't enjoy this.