Walton

From the consistently envelope-pushing Hyperdub comes the new LP from fast-rising Mancunian producer Walton, Beyond. In this post-everything world of genre melding, producers are now rated by their influences, and while Walton's sound is clearly his own, it's impossible to ignore the influence of the acid house sounds emanating from Manchester's very own Hacienda club in the late '80s and early '90s. Meaty, compressed beats and dark minor chord synths are the order of the day. Add into the musical melting pot the more recent bass mutations of grime, the pitch-shifted moans of R&B ballads past (which have become a constant in the UK dance scene in the last couple of years), and a litany of guttural percussive clicks and whirrs that add a dark, disconnected vibe to tracks such as "You & Me" or "Help Me Out." The end result is a deep, percussive (and wholly cohesive) sound that looks forward more than it looks to the past.