Velocette
Clockworks EP

South of Market
South of Market EP
REFLECTIVE

100% Artificial = 100% Real. Void is Infinity. Long live acidic trip-hop. Electro. Quirky breaks. South of Market, a.k.a. Jonah Sharp, has exploded in a crescendo of cascading patchcords and 0's & 1's. Dark Numan-esque synth lines give me a freeway on-ramp merging sensation. "Fish Stew," a train wreck so off it's on. I try to sit and miss my chair landing on my ass on the floor during "End Up" when digits meet logarithms. Space invaders futurize the breakbeat in "Soon," flanging the night away with megafast drum machine conversation, close encounters style. Along similar parallel courses in time, John Williams' Velocette has landed in the same electric nebula and produced bizarre results. "Nicht-sien" pulls you in with piano and peculiar monobeat highrise Blade Runner sets. "Time and Space" reveals sonic sonar simplicity in deep house space truckin'--heavy acid break with a Casio sensibility at a heartrate with a pacemaker and a triple bypass. "Afterimage" is slower, corresponding to its lingering effect on cognitive consciousness. Completely foreign and constantly shifting. (SeanMercer)

Party Crashers
This Is How We Do It 12"
ACACIA/PLUS 8

Acacia Records, a sublabel of Plus 8, releases quality Detroit sound, and this 12" is no exception. "This Is How We Do It" is an energetic, progressive house track, and "Come and Get It" has a trance/house feel with synthetic airplane sounds and fat bubbly bass--a nice groove. The B-side's "Is It" continues the air planetheme, but adds a low-frequency bass groove that hits on the off-beat to keep the track movin'. The best track, "Go See Ya," has attitude with its spoken sample, "I don't want ta look at ya mutha fuckin' face...," and with a killer arpeggiated acid bassline, is more uptempo than the other three tracks. This one gets two snaps in a circle...see ya! (FelicityMcNolan)

Electroliners
Loose Caboose 12"
TWITCH

Choo Choo DJ Dan and Jim Hopkins have put out a solid 45 here that sounds even better on 33. Meatbeat samples and Rob Base drum in a KLF train station somewhere in Ohio. The Bassbin Twins do it again and I strongly suggest the slower B-side for better absorption. Play at original if you just can't stop. All aboard. (SeanMercer)

Julius Papp
Cueball Vol. 1
NERVOUS

Julius has many disguises. From playing a large percent of the San Fran scenario in various styles of house and acid jazz to producing quality product in the studio that rivals his peers, Julius is like a chameleon with a big hat collection. "Groovie Gravie" is straight no chaser acid jazz; poolhall downtempo pulls it off smoother. "Warm Chill" is the trickshot, however, with goosebumping trumpet solo and velvet drum loop. "Suite Oskris" polishes it off with found sound from a martini bar. Inching toward house "Jazbah Sceneries" strikes the likes of Noel Catura on saxaphone and makes note of the jazz priority giving into funk rhythm guitar licks and organ riffs uptempo. "Nocturnal Rotation "knocks the 8 in the corner pocket while a halfbeat percussion goes on. Cheese and crackers in a Riunite style that's so nice. (Sean Mercer)

Off and Gone
Sigma Receptor EP
EYE-Q MUSIC

Off and Gone's first 12" on Eye-Q is a pleasant combination of mid-tempo 4/4 trance and West Coast-style ambient treatments. The three tracks are all variations on a similar theme--slightly mutating textures and melodies that seem to levitate over strict bass drum time. The title track "Sigma Receptor" undulates over an Eat Static throbbing bassline and demented organ riffs; the live mix "Phosphenes" perpetuates the escapism with slingshot note blasts and muffled voice samples; and "Kopli" tweaks the formula further with a Black Dog melody and digital voices. A dose of the stratospheric from two of Vancouver's own. (Andrew Monko)