Lukid - Boxing Club / Blind Spot (Glum)More syncopated genius from Luke Blair, the wonky/ hip-hop producer whose albums for Werk have been praised as highly as that of some-time mentor Actress. With no previous releases, Glum would seem to be taking a hell of a chance on a Lukid 12" - as brilliant as Luke Blair is, he's unfairly denied the commercial successes of contemporaries like Flying Lotus, Samiyam, HudMo etc. However, one listen to Boxing Club, on the A-side, and it's clear that this is definitely worth the gamble - summoning up an impenetrable storm of fractured percussion that sits somewhere between Gamelan, Nyabinghi and hip-hop, Lukid smears and blurs the sounds until they dissolve into a molasses dreamscape, complete with ebbing and collapsing synth swathes, and a disquietingly swung bassline. It's definitely more dancefloor-centric than his albums Foma and Onandon, which tended to muffle out the thump-crack with hypnagogic blurs and surreal machinations, but it's still one for the smoked-out, early morning floors. Pure gorgeous head music.
On the B-side, Lukid crafts his dense, polyrythmic sound into something about three degrees removed from techno; its mechanistic chatter and a skipping double-kick riff holding together off-key synths and slithering percussive fills. Again, it's got a hefty stoned vibe, but there's a solid beat holding it all together that could have been borrowed from Joy Orbison, MoodyMann or the more left-of-centre sounds of garage.
Undoubtedly beautiful, and certainly Lukid's most sellable proposition to date - if it gains Blair the acclaim he deserves, it can only be a good thing.
Heading for my "most played list" for sure.
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