As Apple Pips continues to explore its opening mantra of echo, depth, swing and bass within the duplicitous realms of modern electronica, it welcomes to the fold two long-standing friends of the label and in turn sheds light on their own fresh avenues within house music. You might already know Lrusse as ID or Behling, commonly found kicking up the dust alongside Sam Baobinga Simpson in all manner of styles and tempos, while Bleecker has an accomplished back-story in dubstep as Wedge & through his own If Symptoms Persist imprint. In their new venture both producers fuse their dancefloor inclinations with more searching, experimental textures and tones, placing crafty sound design on a level pegging with the more immediate tropes of groove and presence.
“Dot Product” dives out of the speakers with a direct hook of a lead synth, but all around it shards of sonic matter flutter and twirl in the finely spaced mix, from micro-samples of percussion to dismembered vocal snippets. With a limber, easy-strutting beat and some sub-baiting bass to boot, the track manages to be both leftfield and utterly accessible all in the same breath. Plotting a less obvious course, “Stairwell” comes to life in an atmospheric haze of found sounds and shapeless drones, until a subtly swung beat slips through a crack and into the foreground. The same embrace of intricate detail is present on this cut, but wielded in a more restrained setting that rises slowly over the duration rather than kicking in from the off. Even the central melody comes draped in a finely filtered veneer that implies as much as it elicits, making for the perfect foil to the unabashed extrovert Aside. This record is a decisive step forward for both Lrusse and Bleecker, staying true to their past achievements whilst showcasing the vitality and imagination inherent in both their shared studio adventures and their individual forays to come.
