Slapper

At 128 the kick lands square and stays there, and the whole thing is built around a short, clipped hook that keeps poking through the grid. In A minor the bass sits low and dry rather than warm; there's little reverb to hide behind, so the groove has to do the work on its own, and mostly it does. Energy is pinned near the top, though the tension never really spikes — it's a steady hand on the shoulder rather than a shove.

It's a functional record, and I mean that with some respect: the kind of thing you slot in at the hour when the floor needs holding rather than lifting. The percussion is tidy, the filter moves are predictable but well-timed, and it will mix cleanly out of almost anything in the same key. Not a record I'd build a night around — one I'd keep within reach.