Machinedrum – “Vapor City” – [Ninja Tune]

incognito   12/4/2013   A Library, CD

Latest release from Machinedrum, Vapor City vacillates between dubbed out minimal drumfunk jungle and downtempo. Out on the venerable Ninja Tune label, this is a very solid and mature album. Tracks “Gunshotta” and “Eyes Don’t Lie” and “Rise and Fall” recall to mind Breakage’s efforts on Scientific Wax and their ilk in the mid 2000s. Beautifully produced and crisp, with perfectly sequenced breaks that aren’t over the top, continuously unique, not repetitive. “Infinite Us” slows things down to 145 bpm future-jungle territory, while “Center Your Love” and “Seesea” have playful vibes at downtempo speed and sweet vocals. “Vizion” dabbles in murky, gray ambient. The album is diverse, yet really held together by a common , not quite recognizable thread of bass music and dub.