- After dropping a heady house and techno package from Rhode Island upstart Morgan Louis, White Material turn to New York for the label's second release of the year. Like Louis, Alvin Aronson is new to the label, though he's been part of the troupe's inner circle for sometime—and it shows. WM007 pretty much sums up what's great about White Material: they're unwilling to stick to any one thing, like they don't have to impress anyone and answer only to themselves.
The record opens with a 44-second metallic squall that jars and errs before moving onto the billowy loveliness of "Fog City." Afterwards, it's straight into "Extension"'s plush, driving techno. Anything can go down in the EP's second half, and rightly so. There's another strange pulsing interlude, followed by two slabs of dense stuff that should resonate with Kassem Mosse and Workshop fans. The whip-crack hats, groovy feel and charged ambient pads make "City 2" a weird club hit, but "Drone Techno" is the one we'll likely be hearing a lot more. It's got cool, instant classic written all over it.
TracklistA1 Aevus
A2 Fog City
A3 Extension
B1 Hominid
B2 Drone Techno
B3 City 2