Innamind clan member Karma is back again with three spaced out tracks that mix his love of dub, grainy, sandpaper clouds of texture and a minimal technoid sense of restraint for his “Terrorist” EP. The obviously titled “Terrorist” liberally borrows the vocals of Alborosie’s “Police Polizia” to haunting effect given the world’s open wounds of ISIS, Syria, mass surveillance, cyber attacks, and the dismal choice between two great evils in this US election cycle – meanwhile gaseous clouds of dubspace leak and seep in between the crackles of a beat that was ripped straight from a record outta 60’s (at least that’s what Karnage told me when I played alongside him at a Brooklyn warehouse). Meanwhile, Robbie Shakespeare lays down a mighty sub groove that fits snuggly in the pocket.
As “Terrorist” fades into the ether, “Cha” gallops with the signature Mala pulse. A technoid sense of momentum propels it ever forward with sun-dried butterfly wing hi-hats that seem to be on the verge of breaking; an Orthodox call to prayer bell intones intermittently as trashcan snares fill the rhythmic kinky-ness. Occasionally a voice spews “cha”, giving the track its name sake but its really the technoid momentum of it all that really makes this one work.
Lastly, “Vacant Mind” drags itself outta its grave with scan gun pulses, making me think of a barely there heartbeat, and again, Karma makes deft use of gaseous textures that invoke fog, rain and barely visible conditions. A jazzy flourish of crashes take the charge as various bleeps, blurps, crackles and pops are lovingly dubbed inna King Tubby style (that is if King Tubby had a residency at Berghain). As “Cha” before it “Vacant Mind” possess a techno by way of Lee Perry sense of sound design that is really absorbing and makes for great night-time autumnal walks in the fog.
All in all, the EP picks up where Karma’s previous outing for Innamind left off, but taking more cues from “Rumble Fish” and expanding them further beyond the Karman line and into dubspace for a delicious mix of dub aesthetics, technoid design and restraint and crucial sub weight.
Pre-orders for the Terrorist EP are available December 7th from Unearthed Sounds. Read our interview with Karma.
