- For a producer most readily associated with experimental LPs like Controlling Body and The Swedish Congo Record, Peder Mannerfelt has released a considerable amount of bangers in the past 12 months. Clear Eyes, Full Heart would've been outright hilarious if it wasn't so powerfully deranged, while a recent remix of Hi5ghost turned a grime track into a self-detonating rave bomb. Along the way, he's pilfered the dustbin of UK hardcore and made old-school hoovers and breaks feel abstract and full of potential.
Obey / Stream Of Time continues the trend but recalls the cinematic style of Mannerfelt's LPs. "Obey" is brief but stunning. Sudden impacts lunge out of the silence and slink away in clouds of sub, while breaks clatter in a closed loop, like a gerbil scurrying on a wheel. A synth surveils the snowscape, but it's empty as far as the eye can see. It's easy to imagine Mannerfelt writing "Obey" while holed up in the lonely outpost adorning the EP's cover. "Stream Of Time" is more like Mannerfelt's recent club-oriented output. The hardcore stabs are amusingly operatic and the rhythm bounces along as if stuck between a gallop and a stumble. Deliberate simplicity gives it a distinct energy—both tracks feel more like moments of inspiration than something that's been laboured over. This appreciation for immediacy is a crucial ingredient in Mannerfelt's music, and Obey / Stream Of Time is a great example.
Tracklist01. Obey
02. Stream of Time