- "It's about capturing a snapshot of the original idea," Steve Spacek has said of his recent practice of making tracks on iPad apps. The record he was talking about, 2015's Modern Streets as Beat Spacek, used this off-the-cuff method to reflect the energy and spontaneity of his youthful years in the London scene. A more recent 12-inch trilogy for Eglo drops the nostalgic mission but retains the wonky charm. Mov Closr, the third and longest in the set, features four cartoonish club killers in which simple, vivid touches catch the ear.
On the title track it's the vocals. There's a more conventional London soul turn from Natalie Slade, versus Spacek's wispy, delay-drenched falsetto, which is mirrored weirdly in a groove so asymmetric it almost falls apart. Similar drums get an airing on "Garage Days," where extreme delay settings make them sizzle and spit out the speakers, engulfing the daubs of soulful melody. On "Boo Boo Step" it's all about the synth lead, which dances and flickers like blinking circuitry. These tracks call to mind the jazzy house-tempo grooves and sly muscle of London broken beat. "Nano Nights" switches things up, accelerating to a footwork-like 160 BPM. This is the hi-velocity soul of 2016's "If U Wan 2 Find Me," a sound so sweet that its convulsive rhythms come to feel light and playful. Playfulness might be what Spacek does best.
TracklistA1 Mov Clsr feat. Natalie Slade
A2 Garage Days
B1 Boo Boo Step
B2 Nano Nights