- You could probably count the number of individual elements in HUSH03's four tracks on both hands. Zak Khutoretsky has never been one for excess, but his outings on HUSH are Sahara-Desert-sparse. Take the appropriately titled "Marching On," which is little more than a synth blip, lightly swung hi-hats and a snare crack. He weaves spartan ingredients into something tense enough to make your shoulders tighten for seven minutes.
Khutoretsky's success is in avoiding minimal's machine-music precision. As with Robert Hood, you can hear his hand at the controls. It's the slightly off-kilter play between snare and synth squeak in "Traverse," which fall out of time with each other, or the choked riffs of "Balance" that he seemingly struggles to rein in. It all peaks on "Distress," where the bassline feels like it ends a note early, the gap drawing you into the next roll of the loop. It's music made with the precision of a Swiss watch.
TracklistA1 Distress
A2 Traverse
B1 Balance
B2 Marching On