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MR BEATNICK

Mr Beatnick & Richard Greenan present their debut full length collaboration, "Coasty". Brought together by their twin residencies on NTS Radio, the duo have forged distinct paths in respective scenes over the last decade - as producers, DJs and label heads of imprints Mythstery and Kit Records.

The strength of their partnership is built on contrasting styles; Mr Beatnick's sound orbits the woozier fringes of house and hip-hop, while Richard Greenan has settled in the cracks between ambient, textural experimentation and the avant-garde. Here, these approaches coalesce in unexpected ways - with violin, harp, guitar and saxophone finding themselves serrated by volleys of percussion and punchily melodic bass.

With much of the music recorded during the pair's residency in Margate, the album documents a weekend toasted and skewed progressively sideways. The opening salvo of cascading synth muscle ("Goodnight Mush") and fragmented acoustic stepper ("Superb Crafty Gardens") could evoke Devo and Pete Rock breaking fried toast over a dirty fry up. Side A's pop sensibilities peak on the lucidly string-laden "Harbour Arms", complete with pristine guest vocal by bb sway.

Then, like the work of a pair of pissed beavers, things start to get pretty weird. Familiar structures ferment laterally, from the midi swamp-hop of "Bellows of the Earth", to the cooked techno-funk stylings of "Bronze Pears". "How to Draw Roger" offers a magma-like credits roll, the sun's purple yolk poached over a hoppy sea of amber.

TRACK LISTING

1. Goodnight Mush
2. Superb Crafty Garden
3. Harbour Arms (feat. Bb Sway)
4. Bellows Of The Earth
5. Sad Brasstard
6. Bronze Pears
7. To Sea Is To Be
8. How To Draw Roger

MPC grooves meet modular textures downtown on Mr Beatnick's "Joy in Variation", his third and most floor-focussed album to date. Steeped in the language and form of hip hop production techniques and shaped by his musical education propping up the wall of London clubs like Plastic People in the early noughties, the album offers eight playful dancefloor experiments in poly-rhythm, tempo-change and the colourful palettes opened up by modular synthesis exploration.

From the swing and bump of "Joy In Variation" and "Shuffle the Bud", to the tempo-switching beatdown of "Shapeshifter", vintage boogie-funk on "When This Is Over" and even a playful take on Tangerine Dream's 1983 staple "Love On A Real Train", this is a varied set designed to hit hard enough for club play, but stay chilled enough for deeper home listening.

"Joy In Variation" is further evidence of why Mr Beatnick's late noughties cuts like "Synthetes" and "Ice Cream Strut" continue to stay close to the boxes of discerning djs after all this time, and why his NTS Radio show has built such a dedicated following over the last decade.


TRACK LISTING

1. Joy In Variation
2. Shuffle The Bud
3. Poseidon
4. Wave Cascade
5. When This Is Over
6. Chime Of The Healer
7. Shapeshifter
8. Love On A Real Train


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