- With a mix of bass guitar, live-sounding percussion, analog keyboards, guitar feedback, and chiming bells, Simone Fedi's second single for Eskimo, "Sub-Space," breaks from the label's recent space-disco fixation towards the rock end of the spectrum (as in their recent Daniele Baldelli Cosmic Rock!!! mix). Whispered vocals tighten up into a bit about: "I can't, I can't believe in nothing," which then turn into a dramatic near-falsetto and a group chant, though Fedi's pout shades too close to that of !!!'s Nic Offer for comfort. Myself, I can't believe that hot-dog guitar solo that Fedi takes on top of the booping keyboard line midway through, only to return to more shredding near the end. Between the vocal style and soloing, it may put more than a few people off. Out of City's remix of the tune centers the thump and surrounds it with slivers of scratched guitar strings and tickled keys. They dub out Fedi's word "nothing" and speed it up even more, leaving behind the rock dynamics for a little less variation.
Epic B-side "Yeah!" makes clear Fedi's debt to early LCD Soundsystem and their hybrid of rock and dancefloor moves. It opens with seething mass of synthesized squalls, live bass, high-pitched guitar (at least, I think it's a guitar) calls and clacking percussion that gains velocity and breadth as it unfolds. With its barrage of hand drums and noisy shrapnel, it definitely mixes into the rock-disco sound of DFA (think J.O.Y. "Sunplus," Liquid Liquid's "Bellhead"). The breakdown emphasizes the plunked bass strings, piling on more squelches and decaying synth chords before Fedi pitches everything upwards and upwards, ascending towards the stratospheric. While slightly messy, it tops the A-side.
TracklistA1 Sub-Space (Original Mix)
A2 Sub-Space (Out Of City Remix)
B Yeah!