- A few years ago, the idea of Untold turning up on Clone might have seemed odd. Now it's 2011, and bass music has wholeheartedly embraced four-to-the-floor rhythms, Clone has diversified into a dizzying array of sub-labels and everyone's in bed with everyone. (See: Blawan + Moodymann + R&S.) All bets are off.
Atypically for Untold, who has turned out some of the trickiest rhythms in bass music, the A-side groove is a heads-down, straight-ahead roller in the tradition of DJ Rush—hard-edged kicks, cutting claps, sheets of white noise. There are glancing dub-techno chords, but the bulk of the track's character lies in its throbbing bass—a bulbous, syncopated whomp that takes on almost animal qualities as it's run through the filters, grumbling and growling, jabbing and feinting, hungry and mean. There's an ominous hint of train whistle in the distance that opens up the horizon, but the bulk of the track's focus is on the devastation in its immediate wake.
With its crumpled kick and robotic clacks, "Bachelor's Delight" begins with a lighter feel; in place of the suffocating low end, there are dissonant bell tones and nervous arpeggios reminiscent of Four Tet's dance floor work. But it beefs up fast, taking on a double-time breakbeat and another molten, swollen bassline, while incidental frequencies splay across the spectrum. Pummeling and relentless, it's a headbanger's ball, right down to the stars spinning dizzily around your temples.
Tracklist A Little Things Like That
B Bachelor's Delight