- Throughout 2009 Joker has been nearly impossible to ignore, constantly injecting his releases—and his current run of remixes for the likes of Simian Mobile Disco and Little Boots—with his own strain of mutated funk that preys on the roughly textured edges of his basslines as much as it does the lead synths.
This outing for Pinch's label Tectonic, follows an earlier appearance on the Tectonic Plates Vol. 2 compilation and in keeping with the beat that appeared there, "Untitled.rsn," these tracks tread a tougher path. "Output One Output Two" is the obvious follow-up, pouring its energy into the tightly wound bassline rather than into the slithering sensuality of some of his synth work on other releases such as "Digidesign" on Hyperdub or his work with Ginz on tracks like "Purple City." Joker colours the bassline and its solid beat structure with twists of mechanoid screaming before the pads blossom and lift the tone away from the force of the bass' mid-range.
"City Hopper" is more typically what one has come to expect from the self-proclaimed purveyor of the "purple wow" sound; big bass stabs pulse in time to a slower hip-hop beat that concentrates heavily on the punch of the snare. Adding his erratic yet sublimely likeable synth riffs, he builds something that perfectly embodies what his productions are all about, fusing the elegance and sex of funked-out lead lines with bass pressure and rhythms that will drive a dance in his own, typically unique, signature style.
Tracklist A City Hopper
B Output One Output Two