- Ryan Merry's third release for San Francisco's Icee Hot—a label he cofounded—is his strongest to date. Again rhythm carries the bulk of his tracks' weight, particularly on "Snake Box," where beyond some muted pads it's like hearing a metal bin full of forks being thrown down a fire escape. Merry's got an impressive knack for finding energy seemingly from nowhere; he knows it's the tiny adjustments in how heavily kicks hit and where snares fall that makes floors move.
The flip dips deeper into melody, although the three-note riff isn't exactly something you'll leave the club whistling. It's more a structure to hang percussion off, and when the breakdown does come the hooks disappear completely. A sudden chatter of snares signals the return to peak-time. The remix from Innerspace Halflife—Chicago duo Hakim Murphy and Ike Release—overcooks things a touch. The opening half's impressive, a maelstrom of thumping toms, but post-breakdown all manner of cod-Vangelis pads sweep in and suck out all the tension. As Merry knows, less is often far more.
TracklistA1 Only Now
B1 Snake Box
B2 Only Now (Innerspace Halflife Remix)