Tramma 33rpm

A carefully plotted trajectory in music tends to be proven in hindsight; the way Instra:mental's sound made sense half a decade ago now seems almost too obvious to bare. Tramma on 33rpm was a nightmarish echo chamber that somehow ended up at the core of dubstep, the entire genre now being a hangover from a star-studded MTV afterparty with everyone trying unapologetically to avoid eye contact. It's moments like this which need to be taken in once the the glow dies down, and whilst Resolution 653 wasn't my idea of the album they should have made (and a couple of years hasn't persuaded me to alter that opinion) listening to this slow-motion dub-trip fills me with confidence that they probably weren't meant to make an album. The darkness that now surrounds the resurgence of techno in the UK was tipped by tracks like this, remembering  great electonic music delivers atmosphere above complexity.

Sliding through unrelenting subterranean pipework the bass is made to nod your head to - it feels out the space for you and leaves the slightest trail of a groove which eventually blooms into crystalline beauty. The elements on this track feel so intertwined and rhythmic when you listen at the proper speed, there is nothing kitch about it, but somehow Instra:mental were made to be listened to slowly, everything becomes as sparse as it needs to be to really lay bare the workings of the track and allow it to come to life, it engulfs you with a dark energy that Nonplus+ always seemed to keep in mind.

(if anyone wants to hear this at 33rpm, drop me a message)