PATSCAN
Plasticine
RN013
Rednetic Recordings 2007
06 Tracks. 31mins44secs
Format: CDS

Patscan’s Pat Hime grew up in South East London but now lives in Brighton, where he shares his time between his solo project and live techno duo Idiot Pirate, which he formed with Gawain Carey earlier this year. Pat released his solo debut EP, Muddled, on Concrete Plastic in March.

Rounding up electrified electro, voluptuous atmospheric electronica and classic techno, Plasticine is a rather strong and elegant offering from Hime, with enough variety to tickles the mind and enough consistency to channel attention.

The EP kicks off with Patabula, which bubbles up from a single melodic theme into a busy rhythmic motif, making the most of a somewhat rarefied sound pool. Reminiscent of classic early to mid-nineties electronica a la As One, this piece settles the tone for the rest of the EP but certainly doesn’t define it entirely. Sheen and Wangleberry show similarity in the choice of rich textures and luxurious settings, but, while the former takes some time to reveal its game, the latter presents it in a concussed fashion, rendering the elegant overtones in abstract angular chunks. On Tampered Breaks, Hime combines early eighties synth sounds with vivid Detroit moods and Aphex-like beats, while on Gargling Gravel, he layers stuttering beats and melodies into a piece which appears never to start, but manages to asserts its ground all the same.

4/5

Patscan (Myspace) | Rednetic Recordings