About this item

Emerging out of the fog, Hill 88 lands its second chapter with Bay Area's Surkul delivering the “Shush EP”. Raw and primitive, a diverse body of heavy bass and bouncing rhythms. Ambient bare bones stripped and spaced out. This EP pulls you out of the net and into the primordial.

Following Surkul's 2019 cassette mixtape “Northern Audacity”,he continues to play leftfield with the “Shush EP”. Straying from his 20 year run as a drum and bass DJ, some may be surprised how the “Shush EP” delivers. During a test run of this EP, some described the material falling in line with the Hyperdub catalogue and similar rawness to the African Head Charge releases by Adrian Sherwood (On-U Sound).

Against the grain was the direction taken to create this EP. Once the needle drops you'll notice the target over heavy bass and lush electric synths attacking with arpeggiation. The soundtrack to an industrial desert.

RIYL: Andy Stott, Demdike Stare, LIES, AD 93, Power Vacuum etc.

'I constantly hear everyone else recreating a similar sound that already exists and having thoroughly explored the art form I wanted to build something new. The pressure to conform made it that much more important, I felt, for me to create something unique that eventually made perfect sense. The more I stripped back and tried new approaches, the more the tracks came to shape. Escaping stock genres helped open the path to create without boundaries. With this project, the focus was on absence rather than content. Other musicians I know always encouraged me to do something different, so when I started this project, their words were a great inspiration. The tracks are moody and kind of nostalgic.'

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: There's nothing quite like this one our shelves at the moment! Completely non-linear sonic experiments by an old school veteran producer and DJ looking to sculpt new sonic lifeforms and evolve the cannon of bass / noise music into fresh territories. You've gotta admire his ambition, taking us on aural adventure of which you can't even predict how the next 4 bars will develop. Comparisons could be drawn to Demdike and Andy Stott but really Surkul lives in his own unique bubble.

TRACK LISTING

A. Rude Introduction
B. 30/30 Rule
C. Extoller's Flash
D. Meeting Again