Max Cooper and Rob Clouth - 8 Billion Realities

A Closer Listen

This EP deserves to be a 12″, and it is!  The colorful Crayola splatter is an indication of the music waiting within.  Unlike Max Cooper‘s generous 75-minute On Being, released earlier this year, this collaboration with Rob Clouth clocks in at a concise 22.

There are four very different tracks here, but they all mesh together well (that’s a reference to the label, by the way!).  Each artist seems invigorated by the other, pressed to turn in their very best work.  Their long-time friendship has produced a warmth and sonic flow that makes the wildest shifts seem natural.

“Asymptote” is an immediate club banger, hearkening back to the techno-trance explosion of the 90s, when DJs such as John Digweed and Sasha ruled the roost.  Chugging along at 140 bpm, one can imagine the track slotted in many a modern DJ’s set.  Global Underground devotees will be chuffed.  The difference between this production and those of past decades is that the development is constant; multiple patterns weave in and out, swapping a big breakdown for a lesson in texture.

And then the first curveball: an impressively rhythmic rap from South London’s FLOHIO on the title track, melding breakbeat and grime in a manner that might have listeners learning the lyrics and rapping along.  The beats are tuff, the vibe authentic, the stereo effects sublime.  While this isn’t what we expected, we have grown used to variety and risk on Cooper’s productions.

“Candelena” returns to the instrumental realm, with a steady beat and an invitation to surrender to the flow.  The percussion is exposed as the track progresses, adding slightly harsher elements along the way without abandoning its accessibility.  As the track slows and the beats dissipate, it makes room for the ambient closer “A Moment Set Aside.”  The chill mood it creates wraps up the short party in fine fashion: an evening out in microcosm.

Dare we hope for more?  We’ve heard many albums that lack four solid tracks, and this EP goes four-for-four.  We’d love to hear an entire album from these instinctive collaborators.  (Richard Allen)