SBTRKT: 2020 (Brainmath) - 2 x 12" originally released April 2010
Appointment: Revolutionary Approach (Appointment) - 12"
Appointment: Reel 2 Real (Appointment) - 12"

I only got the SBTRKT 12" 'cos Nicole from Soho's Sounds of the Universe said it was really good and he was her mate. But the heavyweight 45 cuts over 2 pieces of vinyl in pretty packaging appealed anyway. What I ended up with was incredibly polished and razor-sharp missives in contemporary bass music. The standout being the garage-inflected shuffle of 'Pause for Thought'.

As anonymous as it gets, Appointment are part of the LiveJam crew who have been responsible in the past for knocking out some seriously murky techno. The USP here is that everything has been recorded live on strictly analogue gear. Both 12"s (vinyl release only, no digital) possess the rough texture of Jeff Mills' output and the rhythmic inventiveness / weirdness of early Black Dog material. It's the woozy piano riff on the second A-side track from the first 12" that always gets me. Alien, mysterious and dark: just how I like my techno to be. The second release treads a safer path but is no less interesting. Beats crunch and snap and melodies are morose and weighed down by pressure. Check the last track on the B-side for accomplished evidence.