the prolific lord of the isles (aka scotlands neil mcdonald) has had a string of stunning 12 inches over the past few years on labels such as permanent vacation, unthank, shevchenko, mule and of course his four track > year of the city ep< on phonica, which was widely acclaimed upon its release in 2012. this time loti presents two long-form tracks, each a mini-masterpiece in itself. the 10 minute plus >greane< bursts into life after an intro of kicks and white noise hi-hats. it continues to slowly build, with pitch-bent synth lines and a pulsing bass-line making way for a melacholic shift in mood. truly original stuff! on the flip, a swirl of synthetic strings introduces ‘gigha’, in a manner that brings to mind rhythm is rhythm’s legendary ‘kao-tic harmony’, before the drums and infectious acid-line join in. over the 8 minutes they continue to interweave and play off each other to dazzling effect. artwork by jack featherstone, the designer of a number of sleeves for border community (including the highly praised campaign behind james holden’s ‘the inheritors’, its singles and live visuals), electric minds, warm and of course, phonica.