The Trilogy Tapes went from strength to strength in 2013 and Will Bankhead’s label found itself occupying the higher echelons of pretty much every notable end-of-year list. The outfit’s penchant for experimental explorations in off-piste house and techno has garnered them a steady following and aided the rise of artists such as Antony Naples, MGUN and Kassem Mosse.
Looking to start the new year as they left the last, they bring an EP from new alias Ondo Fudd, who presents the ‘Coup d’Etat EP’. Now, a brief Google of the moniker doesn’t appear to offer much in explanation as to an identity. However, we’ve heard whisperings here it could be Call Super pushing the buttons. Super dropped ‘The Present Tense’ on Fabric's label Houndstooth last year and the record featured exactly the kind of churning, stuttered beats that wouldn’t have felt out of place on Trilogy Tapes. Though I wouldn’t like to speculate too much, there’s certainly enough here to make the link a sensible suggestion.
The EP starts with the title track, ‘Coup d’Etat’. From the offset there’s the typical crunching drums that often characterise Trilogy Tapes records - this then gradually combines with swirling, teetering synths that wobble amongst one another to give proceedings a faintly cosmic flavour. This is where suggesting the music is the work of Call Super makes sense, as there’s definitely enough within this opening track that appears reminiscent of the Berlin-based producer’s previous work.
Ondo Fudd - Coup d'Etat [Trilogy Tapes]
Following on is ‘Harbour’, where the sci-fi feeling of the opening track is continued. As before, there’s still the slightest hint of groove and melody here, the likes of which Trilogy Tapes’ records can at times disregard. Operating around this are sparse, tin-pan percussion elements and twinkling, bleeping stabs that ensure things are kept ice-cold.
The last track is ‘There Will Be a Time’, which of all the tunes on the EP is most classically aligned to the style Trilogy Tapes is known for. For the first three minutes all that’s really discernible are crackling, heavy drums that stomp through a broken and stuttering rhythm section. Gone is the sense of other-planet airiness and desolation - that is until half-way through, when the track opens up amongst those by-now familiar bloops and squeals that sound like R2-D2 after a bad pill. This is really where things get very interesting. Wood-block percussion taps the groove and though there’s still signs of those plodding drums. There’s none of the claustrophobic shuffling found in the first-half of the track and Fudd pulls something strangely funky out of the bag, in a really off-kilter, sci-fi mould. The ‘Coup d’Etat' EP is the kind of jam that feels really at home on the label. The record continues the label’s unspoken merit of producing interesting, often weird house rhythms that are capable of working on the dance floor, just in all the ways you wouldn’t usually expect.
The EP will be released 30th Jan - you can grab it at Juno.
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