Nathan Fake
Sanxenxo (ep)
Cambria Instruments
Nathank Fake’s new EP is a set of jams and leftovers and shelf-sitters recorded either side of his most recent full-lengther, the excellent Blizzards. The excellent Sanxenxo brims with ideas, its opening, title tune unfolding through various glitches over seven minutes, taking in the buzzing, pulsing writhe of ambient techno and spitting out some introverted twitch-rock.
Things get hookier with Kanyon, which has a lithe R’n’B groove to it, with shuffling synth lines placed atop.
And if you’ve read the line in Fake’s bio that says he was turned onto all things electronica by Orbital and Aphex Twin then the tune Vanavond is a crystalising evocation; the perfect distillation of both influences and something that could give Luke Vibert a run for his money in the cool-af stakes, It’s like a Daft Punk soundtrack contribution remixed for the clubs by a name DJ du jour.
Memory Hole is the slightest track here, just two minutes amid seven- and nine-minute bangers. It’s a moody synth wash to reset. A big wave of rolling music crashing in over the previous track and allowing the perfect set-up for the closer here, a song titled 1983.
This is the one track here that was recorded much earlier but revived in late 2020 and cut to fit this cloth. A beat-less keyboard drone, it makes for the ultimate comedown after the hypnotic boogie-pulsing of the EP’s first three cuts.
A great wee rinse of music here.
