Ensemble Skalectrik Trainwrekz

This is Nick Edwards' second outing on Editions Mego following the ace 'Plekzationz' album back in summer 2012. It's the third appearance of Ensemble Skalectrik, coming after the 'Snuff Mill Tapes Vol.1' digital and a split tape with himself as Ekoplekz on Feral Tapes. That cassette had a track brilliantly titled 'The Bianchi Code' a reference/ homage to Italian industrial/ experimental artist Maurizio Bianchi, which is a good reference point of where he seems to be coming from with his work under this new alias. For this outing he indulges in a spot of Stephen Stapleton style turntable plunderphonics combined with dark analogue tape gunk. At moments I begin to think that I could be listening to a cassette from England's hidden reverse that had been buried in a time capsule during the tape swapping heyday of the 80's industrial underground, albeit found somewhere in Jamaica and given some dub-wise smoked out effects. Although this element is not as explicitly as dub as with the Ekoplekz material.

Gloomy decayed electronic slime bubbles while ricocheting, clanking metallic industrial rhythms collide. Recorded in one take these tracks are raw and complex and could only have been created on the fly. Evoking imagery of a broken future and urban decay they also have a science fiction / hallucinogenic futuristic quality, with 'Wrekfore' being particularly trippy. By the time we arrive at closer 'Wreksikz (for Louis Johnstone)' The shadows fade and the light illuminates the skys, like the dawn of a new age. Complete with glorious birdsong the bleakness retreats momentarily, making way for a lush emotionally resonant piece complete with lovely saturated tape hiss and then gradually fades away back into the darkness. Hands down my personal fave album of the week - A belter!