Kero – 2ADVANCD4U 12” LP

Kero LP

It’s that sumbitch’ from Detroit! One of em’ anyway. Actually, there is quite a few, as Detroit is a percolating pluripotent of off-grid awesomeness. They don’t get the reputation that they have so clearly earned, as do other microcosms of musically deviant brilliance such as Chicago, Miami & New Orleans. Anyway, back to the man of Kero. I first stumbled over this cats graloched guts on the ambrosial apex of progressive, genre-confused digital chef-d’ oeuvre “Fire Work Funk”, an EP put out by the great LowRes records. Like any decent delicacy, the hooks embedded themselves deep in the synapses. This is stand-out IDM (Intelligent Dance Music) that knocks-up a stellar gumbo of detailed techno-come-hip-hop inspired free-roaming old arcade/Snes conduced bass & synth dopeness with some moderate Glitch & nods towards the Breakcore interface. You could compare it to other excellent ambiguous/undeclared-genere personnel in the same proximity such as Delien, Adjust or LFO Demon when he’s in that mood, but Kero absolutely has his own sound & approach. It does not always work, & I have had a ropey CD & some dud-tracks by him, but when it’s on, good grief it’s on! Total howlers that manage to be both challenging & awkward as well as consistently gyrating from a rhythmic perspective. A Commodore 64 shitting Game Boy malfunction over down-tempo dance-floor-friendly professionalism that’s been badly infected by Glitch malware with Breakcore ambitions…not to mention quirky as a mothafuck! Check some of those synths for gods-sakes! Side-ways scrolling to the maximus mhan!  They loom out of the digital nebular, utterly under the influence chewing 4-bit & spitting 1-ups (this particular release has very little from the old console spectrum though). This is a very’ very fine LP, with two juicy jumbles on the A-side that tickle the nerves good. But it’s really the B-side that script-flips on a severity flex, entailing two anthems of uber atmospheric excellence that glide out the disc-drive like oiled-treacle. Just some of the best IDM I have come across basically. I imagine that this project will appeal to both those on the easier side of the incline as well as the nut-jobs at the peak. It’s accessible & hugely musical, but also detailed, varied & skitz for those that pay close attention & follow the subtler mechanics & choppy cross-fire.

Compulsory as far as I am concerned!

Rekd: 2007

Label: Touchinbass Records