I haven’t made any reference to the ‘ghosts of music past’, partly because everybody else does, but that’s not a good enough reason. London is probably very much part of his sound, but somehow it is not something I feel strongly in the music. I am probably the only one in this case, and I don’t think it’s got anything to do with the fact that I am not originally from London. I understand what you mean though, and it is something that he emphasises quite strongly in the interview he gave to the Wire, especially as he kinda missed the whole rave thing as he was too young, but his older brother was going to them and buying all these records that channelled the kind of energy of raves, and he grew up with that as a point of reference. He’s kinda nostalgic about something he’s never really lived, that’s what his music is based on.

You’re right about the tension and moods being present on earlier tracks, and that is what kept his first album so tight, but I think they are crystallised in a very particular way on the new album or recent EP tracks, including the Ghost Hardware EP in its whole. Shutta is an awesome example of this.

I was listening to Modus Operandi the other day. It still sounds blinding now, and I would think that both Burial and Untrue will sound as fresh in ten or fifteen years time.

“Untrue is moody, tensed, emotional and threatening in a way that its predecessor only hinted at.” In reference to this comment though, I would suggest a close re-listen to the first album again and also perhaps, the track “Exit Woundz” from the b-side of the “Ghost Hardware” 12″.

I think the Photek comparison is always pertinent and he’s a very obvious influence. Both are seemingly particularly obsessed with texture and rhythm and both come from “inside” their scenes (jungle/d&b and (post-)UKG) and are somewhat reverent to them while doing something strikingly new.

On the Hyperdub site there’s a little interview with Burial where he says he’s listened to nothing much aside of A Guy Called Gerald’s “Black Secret Technology” for about a year. Interesting, as when Gerald was working in jungle he was another insider/outsider pushing the envelope like Photek - but crucially had a much bigger interest in melody and vocals. His often cheap, pulled-from-a-dustbin drum sounds bear more than a passing resemble to Burial’s too. Or the other way around.