- Not Waving and Pye Corner Audio have shared an Ecstatic disc before. 2014's Intercepts featured four tracks from each producer, highlighting their similarities and differences. This limited edition EP retains the spirit of fruitful friction, though both artists have changed in the meantime. Pye Corner Audio has unrumpled his EBM techno, replacing wistful crackle and crunch with a high-definition sound verging on Balearic or progressive house. Arps dance and flicker, pads swell and lead lines do their best guitar solo impressions. Not Waving has done almost the opposite, stripping off his music's ambient sheen to reveal a rougher, stranger surface. Building on the wonkier bits of last year's Animals LP, his contribution shares DNA with the recent Leo James 12-inch on Neubau and the bizarre lumber of fellow Ecstatic artist Novo Line.
Not Waving and Pye Corner Audio cosy up on the A-side, leaving the B-side free for a stylish interloper. Where the A-side's EBM landed soft, playful blows, Silent Servant enters the ring knuckles bare. He hangs back for the most part, skulking and circling in a fog of feedback and spine-chilling lead lines. Continuing the voice theme (Not Waving sampled the anti-racism activist Jane Elliott), a stern monologue echoes through the track's gloomy spaces. It's a passage from J.G. Ballard's sickly erotic Crash, made clear in the track's closing minute, where the drums give way to queasy strings: "The jut and rake of her pubis as she sits in the driver's seat… The soft pressure of her thighs against the rim of the steering wheel…"
TracklistA1 Not Waving - Untitled
A2 Pye Corner Audio - Untitled
B1 Silent Servant - Untitled