Don't let the seeming stillness of the artwork trick you, as Spyt (Ukrainian for "sleeping") is nothing if not a gathering of 4 adequately tempestuous works, brought to us by Ukraine-based label Pincet—to be precise, by the two fine beatmakers that are hailing from Ternopil: Motoblok, the owner of said label, and Clasps, whom you might recall by his thought-provoking technoisms released on Variant Electronic not that long ago. The works provided here won't be representing techno in its classic form, as each of the 4 is expertly melted together with a combination of influences from other genres, allowing the result to be diverse and effectively different from things we come to expect in most of today's electronic music.

    Motoblok leads with 150 BPM-paced, speeding opener featuring thin, but decisively-striking kicks whose syncopation is complemented by panning wooden strikes and densely running, sandy hats with arcing gain values; low-flying acidic oscillations will serve well to enhance the perceived velocity and subtly roaring glithy bassline together with slowly rising majestic drones will condense the spectrum in a satisfying manner, until the late-time intrusion of sheer noise and crude beats will lead Nava L to its brief, conclusive section. Rebuilding the original, Clasps opted slowing down to 137 BPM in order to provide a thin chance to catch breath: Nava L Remix puts forth a menu rich with acidic arrangements of various sorts, Clasps' signature, folk music-evocative, fluting melodies, interchanging 3- and 4-step kicks, along with soft scratches, shakers, metallic clicks, and revolving, elevated ambient fields, all of which lean to either left or the right channel, but never the center, which plays nicely to enhancing the stereo effect. Slowing down 6 BPM points further (or a few dozen, depending on your perception of tempo), Clasps' sole offering to a release will engage deeply-rooted, unrushed kicks, constantly on the verge of drowning in tailgating, subfoower-proactive bass, segmented and slightly delayed plucking of synthetic strings, whining synths with a lowering pitch, and a plethora of naturalistic, obscure samples that resemble the singing of otherworldly birds, glass-clinking and water-dripping; to encapsulate, Serpent Handling is an eastern-music inspired fest of unheard sounds and originality. Lastly, Motoblok seals the EP with a Serpent Handling Remix—a gloomy, tribal, industrially-sounding downtempo piece at 95 BPM, aplenty with crawling, glithy fluctuations, plodding kicks, macabre bassline situated in lower ranges, uncanny loops and ghostly drones, purposely provided in semi-lo-fi and completely cold tonality-wise (not that there is much tonal warmth about anyway), as well as unexpectedly appearing in mid-time—apparently bit-crushed, breakbeat-esque, intensifying arrangement of hats running at double speed, followed by high-range located, ear-piercing screeches, resembling the ever-so-pleasant interaction of sharp claws digging into a shiny metal plate.

    For lack of better terms with which they could brand their work, the duo came up with two new genres - subrealism and hedonist doom (how's that for oxymoron?). But however you prefer to label this four-tracker, there's one thing to be said with certainty—sleeping is the last thing you'll be inclined to do while Spyt tracks are playing.

Release Type: EP

Release Date: 29 May 2017

Release Format: Digital

Record Label • Catalog: Pincet • PIN010

Purchase Links: Bandcamp