Acidulant – Portrait from the 6th Dimension (Complex Sound Sagacity)

Cat no: CSX002
Release date: 28/11/11
Get it from: Juno download

Acidulant is Neil Hales from Malta, who as well as being a 303 devotee is also a qualified pilot, and therefore the closest thing to a proper space cadet to have graced these pages. He’s the kind of hard-working, industrious sort who puts his music out through a variety of labels (including Acid Hardwave, where you can download his earlier Acid Revenge EP for free) but this is his debut album and it’s a cracker: a masterclass in hazy beats and sci-fi atmospherics, top-class IDM for acidheads. It’s all there in the opening: Dark Sector begins by pretending to be a finely honed fusion of Electro Sounds and John Carpenter until a distorted 303 adds a smoky, spacey feel, and with the pace staying languid, segues into the Chicagoan acid and spine-tingling melodies of 6th Dimension. There are nods to the Rephlex school of frazzled acid, most notably on Controlled, while a mid-album one-two of Lollipop Trees and Space Station sounds utterly now, if not quite as distinctive. But Acidulant really nails it when he’s revisiting 1980s sounds, like the epic Sprite, where the kind of hard-edged electro beloved of Dave Clarke meets an acid line salvaged from the outer limits, and Textsurfer which rounds out the album with reflective synths.

Some links:

Complex Sound Sagacity

Acidulant Soundcloud

Acid Ted – Acid Test 017 (Acid Test Pressings)

Cat no: ACIDTEST017
Release date: 29/10/11
Get it from: 909London

You Only Live Once
145 BPM
There’s a loose, freewheeling quality to Acid Ted productions that brings the funk without sacrificing the hard. Here we say hello to a vocal about expressing yourself; superb, echoing horns and an acid line that stays sharp and bosses the track. It’s a faster, slightly dirtier cousin to the track below and a blast of fresh air in the mix.

Ghetto Junkie
140 BPM
With some judicious vocals – here it’s Grandmaster Flash’s The Message rap – a thrilling diversion into psychedelic sonic weirdness around the 5.30 mark, and an acid line that bites right from the very beginning, this is a cracking tune off a cracking release.