- The man known simply as Spatial keeps a pretty low profile and doesn't generally venture far from Infrasonics, his label and production home base. But with likeminded outsiders like xxxy and Ike Release holding down the label's last handful of singles, Spatial has begun venturing outside the palace walls, offering up an original and a remix on a split with S-Max for Bristol's Schmorgasbord Records project. His first full release in earnest for another team, Deconstructivist Dubs, goes to Well Rounded, where xxxy recently turned in some of the most distinctive music of his career.
Though he politely passes on the overt party vibes xxxy so vehemently grabbed by the horns, Spatial does let some sunlight into his characteristically Spartan bass universe. "Bring Me" reveals he's still trading in shaved-down drum patterns and carefully placed bass notes, but trace levels of playful melody give a female vocalist enough of a scaffold to lay down a hook. Though still crispy and all-business, Spatial's drums trend funkier on "Discoborg," with a solitary bass note acting the straight man to punchy synths and an ever-thickening cloud of strings. Were it not for well-placed female coos, what sounds like a low-bit trombone and some late-to-the-party zaps, "You Working" could pass for straight-up techno. I wouldn't say Spatial's stoic façade is crumbling, but Deconstructivist Dubs sure seems to be smiling.
TracklistA Bring Me
B1 Discoborg
B2 You Workin