Wireman - Monobloc

Wireman - Monobloc (Inner Surface Music)

Wireman's debut EP for Prime Numbers made massive waves, stunning everyone from bloggers and DJs to mainstream dance press, leading to Trus'me slightly ludicrously describing him as "A melting pot where Carl Craig, Deepchord, Burial and Drexciya are all put together". Admittedly, there's aspects of all those artists in Wireman's signature style, but the inevitable hype backlash kicked in fairly shortly after. With this new 12" for freshly launched Inner Surface Music, the Paisley-born producer begins to cement his place amongst such big names, with a package of tech-house variants that take in aspects of Burial's post-industrial nihilism, classic techno, and the hazy, sonambulic dynamics of great dub. With a nasty acid bassline and dubby delay work, the title track is great raw-sounding techno that demands to be played loud, and will undoubtedly be making every big name playlist by the end of the year. Slightly less accesible, but my definite favourite is Distance on the flip side, which mimics Andy Stott with it's delicate, yet forceful style - its low-key synth wafts disguising the stripped-back minimalism that holds it together. Repetitive and reductionist without ever growing boring, it builds into a beautifully smacked-out, dreamy climax. Closing off the record is the surreal funk of To The Sleeper, which jacks out off-kilter acid lines designed to fuck shit up at 6am. Quality work - all eyes on Paisley.