electronica / idm format: 12''
Tracks
Coming correct with a sound that's so current it seems to have been beamed into your cortex from the near future, Ghosts On Tape has already made an indelible mark on the breathless recent past. After the broken reggaeton shuffle of 'Mogadishu Night Life' on WB002 his name was the word virus festering on many a lip as the Most Likely To of today's electronic artists; managing to simultaneously render everything you've ever heard into something you sure as hell haven't, Ryan Philip Merry's melting pot blitzes up Kwaito percussive edge, London-centric bassweight, and Detroit/Berlin meter into the tastiest cultural soup your ears ever done tasted - a B-Boy Bouillabaisse for the dancefloor, if you will.
The opening title track sets out the Ghosts On Tape manifesto in fine style, as a classic electro synth line levitates over a tuff glitched beat and b-more break science, dropping to spacious half-tempo finesse for the conclusion. UKF badaman Roska is next up with a remix that both cements and develops his style - those Congolese influences ring through from the original, above his signature subs and some vintage Chicago stabs.
No PR fluff necessary - this piece hypes itself.
On the flip, the speeds are notched down a tad but the groove still dominates. Harsh 606 snares meet dancehall wiggle in 'Equator Jam', as the track melts into a techno breakdown at sub 110 BPM. It's a perfect illustration of the Ghosts On Tape method, where genres represent challenges, not limitations. 'Straight From Cassette' rounds things off with archetypal Marley Marl beats, cut-up vocal ticks and the most delicious bass drum you'll hear all year. This 12" is fresh like a newborn mutant.
