DESIGN A WAVE レコード& CD

Review: Alien Jams would seem to be a logical home for the kind of music Design A Wave creates. The mysterious moniker has been popping up sporadically over the past few years on 7"s, cassettes and more, but going solely on this latest three-pronged effort, the energy feeding into this release is coming from somewhere not of this earth. "I" is a stuttering, minimal jazz noodle fit for Miles Davis in his most electronic Tutu-esque period, before "II" smooths things out a touch with fulsome arpeggios and swooping chords that mask a sneaky time signature, but "III" is on hand to pitch back into more exotic realms with a fractious style that uses dubby chords for an anchor while the rest of the sonic matter comes under heavy effects fire.

Review: Rush Hour's No 'Label' arm has been home to a few curveballs in its time, but nothing quite like this. A.R.M. 1 is the first of two EPs from synth wave artist Design A Wave, the alias of solo artist Tom Hirst who was responsible for the Live On Your Yard LP on Luke Younger's Alter label back in 2012. The record's combination of angular coldwave guitar and more playful synth textures make for an intriguing mix , with the idiosyncratic pop of "Cerebellum" and warm Balearic sound of "Time For Re-Arranges" both making for some of the most unique music to come out of the Amsterdam record store in some time. Somewhat baffling is the inclusion of "Weird F", which will be recognisable to those who purchased the recent No 'Label' outing from ##### as a beatless version of one of the sides of that essential plate. Whatever the reason, it's still an excellent entry into the series.

Review: The final installment of Tim Hirst's two-part release with Rush Hour's No 'Label' operation as Design A Wave proves to be every bit resistant to easy definition as last week's debut 12". Given that Hirst has previously collaborated with Heatsick and released the under-valued Live On Your Yard LP on Luke Younger's Alter a few years back, this shouldn't be a surprise in the least. Fans of Stephen Warwick's extended Casio jams will actually resonant with some of the sounds here, which veer from a squat punk funk disco shuffle on opening track "Neanderthal Nyquist" to lopsided, malfunctioning electro with "Movie Of Helipad". "Auto Resonance Machine" is another overt punk funk number, but it's blessed with synth swirls that are blindingly pretty, whilst "Cerebellum" opts for a more pensive, instrumental mood.