Planetary Assault Systems – The Electric Funk Machine

Return - still remain the best. Pure science in techno music universe.

Far from the best Luke Slater has ever done, at not very coherent, but who could mind when you have such a wide variety in style and sound covered through only nine tracks. The opener, Searchin', is a fast paced, yet highly melodic techno tune, with cool and uplifting synth stabs throghout. The Menace is darker, monotonous and opressive with a loud bass and emphasized cymbals. Exploration Of The Ravish is a toned down, ticking number with a spooky melody in the background which haunts you for almost the track's entire running time. The Return, together with The Parting, might be my favorite track here. Both are vintage, soulful Detroit techno tunes, with lush pads, excellent and dreamy sequences layed over scattered broken beats. Very hypnotic stuff!
The Dream is a pointless three minute ambient break with some irritating whispers going on for the whole time. Signal is very similar to The Menace, structure wise. Relentless, with heavy perucssion laying pressure on the powerful bass line. There are these very cool effects and mixer tricks Luke does during the short three minutes it lasts.
Last but not least: The Battle! One of the fiercest, hardest, loudest and most deviant pieces of music this guy has ever recorded. Stomping four to the floor kick, piercing hook and remorseless drive all the way through! What a kick up the arse! This one takes no prisoners and shows the musical depth Luke has, and displays on one album: from lush soundscapes to pounding dance floor bangers.
Overall, this album is patchy, and not all of it shines. But tracks such as The Return and The Parting rank among Luke's most inspired and introspective works from the nineties, while The Battle shows him at his most dance floor orientated.
Get it if you come across it for an accessible price. But in my opinion, both of the "Archives" albums and the latest Planetary Assault Systems "Temporary suspension" are far superior to this piece of work, so you might want to start there.