- Thanks to last year's Hidden By The Leaves mini-LP on Workshop, Ibrahim Alfa's kinked sound reached a new audience. Ukraine's Wicked Bass has now repressed the two A-side tracks from Alfa's Processor EP, a 1998 release on the defunct Mosquito label. Much like Cristian Vogel, who cofounded Mosquito, Alfa's music has an appeal that doesn't fit with the usual techno narrative. It's often too skippy and scatty for those who like DJ sets executed with military precision, and perhaps too rough and noisy for those at the quirkier end of the house spectrum.
"Artificial Sunsets" has an easygoing house groove, with swinging drums and dreamy keys that could find a home among the minimal house crowd. There's an innate strangeness to the track, especially in the interplay between a woozy lounge sample and a chirpy off-key synth refrain that cycles relentlessly. The raucous "The Pursuit Of Happiness" has slamming drums and a mean bassline. It makes use of a simple but effective formula, which is livened when Alfa adds white noise. Much like "Artificial Sunsets," parts cut in and out with an impulsive touch. On both tracks, Alfa's style nods to techno's P-Funk origins with bold and strange results.
TracklistA Artificial Sunsets
B The Pursuit Of Happiness