Lab Rat XL - Mice Or Cyborg

ultrasound, Jul 07, 2006

I dont mind starting proceedings off (surely three years post this release, comments are long overdue.) There have been detractors of this late-life James Stinson project, as there have been against many of his records which were released in fairly quick succession before his death. But in my opinion, Mice Or Cyborg can stand against the best of vintage Drexciya, and not pale in comparison. This is mature, sophisticated, highly musically-literate work. There are only six tracks, but there is not a single unremarkable one amongst them, in my opinion. This is grown-up, yet in many ways classic Drexciyan electro. The underpinnings appear to rely on the staple 808s and analog/FM synth sounds, but the loose construction of the songs, the adventurous production (which still nevertheless retains a certain rawness: live hiss at times, for instance, highly corrupted vocal contributions at others) lift Mice Or Cyborg above many attempts at similar models of work by other artists. One example: Lab Rat 3. A superb, elegaic, lead shimmers over an irresistible but simple deep bass and kick pattern, which is interspersed with repetitions of a sharp, stinging, reversed pad sample. When I played this track once at a musical appreciation evening with friends, the wives of my mates whod not heard this before, all spontaneously got up and started dancing. Straight up. As for myself, the first time I heard this, I thought, am I really this high? I reiterate, make no mnistake, this LP is first-rate Stinson material and if for any reason youve been swayed by those who doubt the relative quality of this versus more obviously branded Drexicya music, I believe youre making a mistake.

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