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Album Reviews
Album review: Instra:mental – Resolution 653 (Non Plus)
By Paul Vig | Published on Tuesday 19 April 2011
Alex Green and Damon Kirkham are the London based duo behind Instra:mental, and after hearing their rather lacklustre Fabric mix with dBridge last year, I wasn’t expecting much from their debut artist album. But I am very glad to be proven wrong.
‘Resolution 653’ draws on many different genres, and from different eras: from techno beats to cutting edge dubstep, with some electro thrown in too, but with a palpable 90s acid house vibe permeating many tracks. The production is excellent. The opener ‘Sun Rec’ really sets the scene – dark, moody cinematic techno – while the staccato pounding beats of ‘User’ work really well. It makes good use of the Bobby Susser ‘overdose’ sample too, something originally brought to the rave scene two decades ago by 4hero in ‘Mr Kirk’s Nightmare’.
Something a bit more downtempo is found in the lush ‘Waterfalls’, while ‘Love Arp’ sounds like early Autechre and is excellent, with its upbeat melodic synths. There are some weaker tracks – ‘Arc’ is overly industrial and the System 7 type techno of ‘Delta Zone’ is not so good – but the other tracks more than make up for it. In particular ‘Aggro Acid’, the highlight of the record, with its abstract leanings and rawness.
All in all, an extremely good project, which improves on each listen. Well worth tracking down. PV
Physical release: 18 Apr
