Brackles At Juno Download

Review: With maddening infrequency, both Brackles and his sometime partner in crime Shortstuff pop up and drop cyborg funk tracks that instantly serve their contemporaries in the business of day-glo electronic music. On this new release, presumably the first in a series, "Spider" has a deliciously airy false start before dropping down into a cold-as-ice groove, while "Take Me Home" boasts rising and falling synths expelled with total deranged control. Brackles once again proves just how much flair and craftsmanship he has for tracks that are utterly bonkers and perfectly formed at the same time.

Review: A super exclusive, one track only release from Brackles on the Brainmath imprint can do nothing but excite and intrigue any avid electronic music fan. Blending a garage sensibility with dubstep and a touch of UK funky, Brackles really hits the nail on the head with this one. A simple intro dominated by sweeping atmospherics, a delicate bleepy melody and thumping drum kicks gets the party started before the track develops into it's full embodiment, with swelling vocals, pattering beats, murming bassline and sci-fi SFX adding a bizarre background note. Get to know if you don't already.

Review: Considering he's been releasing records for the likes of Planet Mu and Apple Pips since 2009, it would be something of an understatement to say that Brackles' debut album has been a long time coming - but it couldn't have been better timed. Although his sound - a rough hybrid of UK garage and funky styles with echoes of dubstep - is very much of the now, there's an obvious love for the classic sounds of 90s UKG which many of his more inexperienced contemporaries lack - assisted by the inspired vocal contributions from Lily McKenzie and Terri Walker. But it's not just a throwback record - be it the slightly offbeat bass and calypso vibe of "Walkin' Out", or the churning subs of "Squarehead", Brackles nevertheless manages to twist the template into weird and unique shapes. That this album has been released on Rinse isn't a surprise - he's encapsulated nearly twenty years of the station's sound into one record.

Review: Rinse FM regular Brackles takes his relationship with the station a step further with this, his first release for Rinse's own label, following releases on Planet Mu and Apple Pips over the years. Both tracks showcase Brackles' ear for brittle yet driving rhythmic shapes; "Spider" is a stripped back slice of rolling garage-infused funky. Utilising bright yet minimal melodies it skips through a myriad of African inspired melodies and rhythms, whilst a strained pad sound gives the whole thing an alien mood. "Take Me Home" meanwhile takes a soulful female vocal and puts it over a backdrop of deep, searching pitch-bent chords and deep spongy bassline, before breaking out into a rhythmic jam of snares and kwaito-inspired melody.