Blackpepper
Vqarekk
FORMAT: 7" Vinyl
LIMITED EDITION: 250
RUNNING TIME: 8:00
CATALOGUE NUMBER: Dirty7 002
RELEASE DATE: August 2009
excerpt
reviews
"I'm really digging this slick 45 from Britain's Jason Kerley, who designs intense IDM works with the sort of rhythmic intricacy that would make AFX and Autechre proud. Side A houses the masterful "Vqarekk," whose very name is an indisputable homage to Warp Records. Here Kerley proves himself a proficient dabbler in effortlessly skittering beats and synth chicanery, setting the mood with some serious bass shreds. All in all, it's the sort of swell cut that'll churn any half-wit Squarepusher fan into a foot-tapping fervour.
The flipside, "Colour/Colour," is less immediate (read: less melodic) but blessed with more incredible rhythms and some nice n' dirty analog synths. All in all, this is another fine outing for the criminally obscure Dirty Demos label, whose Guillaume Gargaud album previously turned up on Indieville's Best of 2008 list. Keep up the great work."
- Matt Shimmer, Indieville
"Even though Kerley knows how to fill an entire album to the brim with smart sounds, quirky beats and whack ideas, he is demonstrating an intuitive feeling for the format here, as 'Vqarekk' manages to make full use of the limited space at its disposal.
The title track wastes no time with introductions and jumps straight into action. From one moment to the next, you find yourself in the middle of a vortex of meticulously morphing breakbeats, bouncing digital bleeps and playful melodies topped off by shattered fragments of samples. It is only slightly later, that the track dives up for air to build up new momentum on the strength of two pulsating Synth-motives, which will run with and against the increasingly thickening polyrhythms. Before you know it, the machinery has come to a halt and it is time to flip the disc.
Even though 'Colour/Color' gets off to a more withdrawn start, it gradually finds its groove. As garish organ stabs bounce off delayed sequencer lines, the music turns darker and more grim, descending into an urban industrial tunnelrave ñ one could imagine the characters of 'The fifth Element' dancing to this on a night out."