naturkunde museum ostkreuz: tropicalyptic excursions

The Death of Rave are gassed to present the second vinyl release of roiling, computerized no wave by exciting Berlin-based pan-European duo N.M.O. (Morten J. Olsen and Rubén Patiño). Under the mantra "As Strict As Possible," their Tropicalyptic Excursions combine militant snares and amorphous SuperCollider shapes in disciplined dancefloor arrangements, p'raps best compared with a melted hybrid of Powell's cranky engines and EVOL's mutant rave signals dosed with Low Jack swagger. They're dead strange, semi-organic dance creatures, stripped to the bare essentials of shifty rhythm and biting tone, bristling with a concentrated energy that belies their hypnotic, body-scattering effect on the 'floor. Without resorting to overly masculine tactics or conventional structures, they carve a path from kinky, pendulous percussion and grinding globular bass squelch laced with computer gremlins in the title-track, to the bashy, percolated jag of "Talking About Talking," with its metal-tearing build-up, and over to the whooping industrial bounce of "Zaragoza Variations," cut loud and clattering for the B-side by Matt "The Alchemist" Colton. Like the duo's striking releases on Barcelona's Anòmia label, the Nederlandse Maatschappij Ontwikkeling 12" (2014) and the Dominant Akkord cassette (2013), this 12" is a refreshing inversion and diversion of dancefloor strictures -- getting down with a wickedly raw, awkward, and freaky rave flex. If you ever get the chance, make sure to check their aerobic live shows for a radical take on contemporary live electronic performance. Vinyl housed in stickered poly sleeve.