After his most recent LP for Planet Mu, ‘Lord For £39’, Neil Landstrumm returns to record stores with ‘Empire On A Fiver’, an accompanying 12” that is being released on Scottish label Stuff Records in kind conjunction with Scandinavia Records. Three tracks deep the 12” showcases Landstrumm’s fiercely individual and linear production style perfectly, with his primitive 808 drum kits evolving through countless synthesized hooks and enveloping bass progressions.
‘The Godfathers 560’ rolls out with the kind of beat you might find framing one of Joker’s obtuse melodies; keeping the drum pattern simple and the kick drum booming it’s the kind of beat you always throw up but scrap because it seems ‘too easy’. Landstrumm rolls it out perfectly though keeping it tough and simple whilst his bass lines quiver and shimmy their way around the hoover synth melody and snatches of vocals. ‘The Race’ uses a similarly playful Jupiter-8 melody and the same drum sounds but flips up a more dancehall bumping drum pattern that works harmoniously with the simple sustained bass stabs that over power that lower frequencies as he blasts out curse words in a female voice.
Using almost identical sounds it’s like Landstrumm has taken one idea and spread it over two beat progressions. Although he manages to stylistically create his own sound palette and mixes each beat up enough for them to sound different its his remix of Rustie’s break out tune ‘Jagz The Smack’ that really outshines everything on this release. Taking Rustie’s mid range bass scythes he dances his booming kicks around them and playfully injects all manner of synth wanderings on top. Unreeling ideas in real time it’s easy to feel and hear how Landstrumm works, as the man toys with his entire arsenal of synthesizer capabilities over the space of 5 minutes.
Out: 16th March 2009
Links:
www.myspace.com/neillandstrumm
www.myspace.com/stuffrecords
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