Ron Morelli

Ron Morelli's debut solo album successfully explores the potent aesthetics of a late-night journey through the underbelly of New York. The beats are distorted and grimy, the noises jarring and shadowy, and the rough and ready analogue sound palate refreshingly consistent, all capturing Morelli's specific vision of paranoia perfectly. Winding stretches of repetitious, noise-like explorations serve to break up the few straight dance tracks; although the veiled rhythms of these passages are interesting in isolation, the momentum hinted at during the clattering ghetto-tech throwback tracks like "Crack Microbes" and "Modern Paranoia" dwindles towards the mid-point. Nonetheless, Spit's strengths parallel that of Morelli's L.I.E.S. label: a certain something holds the various parts together, yet each unit has its own distinct identity. Though the pace and narrative intrigue drift in and out of focus, it is undoubtedly Morelli's commitment to a satisfyingly distorted analogue sound palate that holds the balance here. Spit is dark, dirty and scarily convincing.