Blenheim Crescent.
What’s the term here? Electronica? Intelligent Dance Music? How’s about beat-driven, bass burdened, mecha-dub infused electro interwoven with field recordings/alfresco samples from Taiwan (& – I think – Indonesia?) – sourced, slumped & sequenced by a “Kiwi Taiwanese” producer called Moxina.
“Sonically, a large part of me is drawn to non-western timbres, rhythm and tonality. It’s not really to consciously infuse my cultural identity into the music but rather an impression left by the cacophonic soundscape of Taiwan which all became very hazy after immigrating to New Zealand.”
The EP is titch, with five short tracks, two of which are remixes (reconstructions via Mong Tong and Sheng “fukd if I kno chuck!?”), so we have only three “authentic” cuts from Moxina himself, who’s triplex chronology is only about ten minutes in length. From my own impression & tastes it’s is really the title track Hit The Wall that stands out so vividly on this outing. A highly pleasing & nod-conductive escapade of quality-electro with busier-than-standard percussive decorations. & speaking of the percussion, did we mention that Moxina had previously been a student of Gamelan? This ingredient manifests most clearly in the opening track, with the “off beats” & three, then six, time stratas. It is, fuckin’ dope, & harks to the kind of material I could easily envisage have being put out by Detroit’s Low Res during their halcyon 2000-2006 harvest. For my own ears, although interesting enough, none of the subsequent joints come anywhere close to the starter shot, & lack the landing of solid blows, finesse, & compositional fluidity & certitude of Hit The Wall. The proceeding double remixes drift-off even further from the stellar overture.
Sound wise, the production is quite minimal, & certainly lacks the heft & lustre that generally made its way to the aforementioned Electro grace period (heh!), where a lot of the producers & labels seemed to double as sound & mastering engineers, & almost everything went onto vinyl.
With the crafting skills demonstrated on the ep’s highpoint, & the dabbling beyond, it will be very interesting to experience what comes next from this intriguing & promising project.
For audio, check direct on the BC page (link below).
2024, Yuku