Review Summary: A competent yet rather generic breakcore record that pales in comparison to Venetian Snares other albums from this time period.
This is a much more disjointed effort compared to the albums that come before and after it. At first listen, Higgins blazes by as a fairly pedestrian breakcore record, sample-laden with fractured speedy distorted percussion taking center stage. Gone is Funk’s typical underlying haunting melodies, replaced with goofy samples and spliced bits of other sources. It sounds more like a cutting room patch job than anything truly focused or with a deliberate outcome in mind.
That being said, it’s technically proficient, as could be said of most of his work. This one just grates a little more and tends towards sounding very repetitive. I’d say it smacks of contract obligation, but with his level of proliferation, I highly doubt Planet Mu had any complaints. It’s not until “Dismantling Five Years” that we get a breather - a gentle ambient track that sounds like something from Aphex Twin’s Selected Ambient Works v2. This blends into “We are Oceans” which combines the mellowness with breakbeat fractures and a haunting vocal - the moment when one wishes the rest of the album had this level of focus, or at least discernible substance.
With the exception of those two tracks, there is little in the way of melody on this record. “Make Ronnie Rocket” (a hipster-level reference to a David Lynch screenplay that was never filmed) sounds like it rattles at 220+ bpm, and it very well could, knowing Funk’s tendency toward extremes. The track slices beats, vocal samples, and melodic snippets with a panicked frenzy like weaving through rush hour traffic at 120 miles per hour. It’s a good example of this records overall approach - 64th note snips of sound that wash over you like a hailstorm. “Vokeheads” continues at the same pace, but with a two note bass synth line that at least gives you a foothold.
Maybe the point is to sound like a frantic collage of broken sounds and blazing fast breakbeats. If that was the goal, then it is certainly achieved. Again, compared to the previous and following records (which are both fantastic), this one accomplishes very little. The result is akin to a tech death album or overly technical prog rock record - a record that is simply easier to admire than enjoy. For those fairly new to the breakcore genre, this will not sell you on it. Not his best.
