- In explaining the aesthetic of his Power Vacuum label to me, Milo Smee repeatedly returned to the word "mental," likening his favourite sounds to "Op-art, or cubism, where your brain can't quite process what's going on." This musical vision, inspired by the absurdism and sonic extremity of rave, is clear on the label's latest release. Cylob is one of IDM's lesser-known legends, a veteran of Rephlex Records who has lately kept a low profile. (Prior to Power Vacuum's recent Vector's 2 compilation, he had been quietly self-releasing his music for the better part a decade.) Sometimes he embodies the friendly side of Braindance, as demonstrated on this year's whimsical The Quantum Loonyverse LP. But in Inflatable Hope, Smee has selected a group of tracks that show Cylob at his most unhinged.
The result might be the weirdest release yet in Power Vacuum's already weird catalogue, though the EP's best moments keep at least a tenuous grip on dance floor convention. On "Concrete Corporal" and "Pulp The Bass," a series of brain-bending synth loops crawl over a primitive techno framework. Elsewhere—on the madcap electro-funk of "Ticking Over," or the disturbingly jaunty "Mission To Mercury"—he manages to conjure earworming melodies from the most toxic of materials. It all gets a bit much in places, particularly on the breakneck "Granular Psychosis (Ect Mix)," where silliness overtakes strangeness. Even so, it's difficult not to admire Cylob's determination to rewire your brain.
TracklistA1 Concrete Corporal
A2 Granular Psychosis (Ect Mix)
A3 Zattrday
B1 Rosetta
B2 Ticking Over
B3 Mission To Mercury
B4 Pulp The Bass