Polypores: Wrigglers
(Crackedankles Records)
Vinyl | CD | DL available at Piccadilly Records
4.0 out of 5.0 stars
The artist always known as Stephen James Buckley releases his next opus as Polypores, a rich sounding beast of ambient techno that sets the bar high in this world of ever changing music soundscapes. Wayne AF Carey reviews…
If you’re a collector of Cracked Ankles stuff you’ll know that Polypores is not the normal. For fucks sake, on one hand you have the bands like Yaang, Chum, Whinge, TV Face, Dead Things, Michael, Pyncher, Hotwax and other talents that some have fucked off to acclaimed fame. Yet Polypores is a standout and a testimony to the releases from this label that keep on giving us top talent. Ste Buckley does his own thing with his imaginative electro stuff that stands apart from anything you’ve heard yet.
Opening track Memespawn is just bizarre as fuck, giving off floating crazy noise from the start. A futuristic melancholic piece of beauty that gives you vibes of the early eighties computer games that messed with your head. Mario Kart and Donkey Kong on acid. Wrigglers is just daft wonky madness. A techno beat filled with some of the weirdest sound effects on the planet. It’s like AI with a virus. Just type in ‘what sounds bonkers’ on any app and they’d never get close. Troublebath is astounding noise from Buckley which brings to mind Orbital on mind altering drugs which I’m sure the Hartnoll brothers never touched. Honest. A sprawling piece of acid wonk if I’ve ever heard it. Naut goes a bit mellow and wobbly with fluid type noise and a bit of Rolf Harris (nonce) stylaphone backed with crashing side effects that fuck you up into a Spiritualized / Spacemen free frenzy. Utter madness.
Alice Drums is a frenetic piece of music, hypnotic and exhilarating from the start with loads of wibbling noise from the mind of Buckley, sending sparks to your brain with the crazy batshit keyboards that freak you out like a nice acid trip. It’s that daft. Puzzles is just what it says on the title. Puzzling crazy shit that sounds great on the ears. Aphex Twin needs to listen to this guy, as do Autechre, but yet again Buckley is in his own world with this superior shit. It’s a testimony to talent that can still create innovative electronic sound this good. A Thinking Thing just hammers your brain with weird as fuck sound. A platter of wonk piled with a motorik repetitive sound that drags the earlobes into a bit of ecstasy.
Cranial Escape is a more mellow affair, dripping with ambience and a clapping drum beat that chills you out. A bit like Banco De Gaia did on Last Train To Lhasa. A smooth bit of relaxing noise to help you nod off with a fat spliff from your local dodgy dealer. Last track Primordia sounds like one of Trump’s helicopters coming to land on one of his shite golf courses, before taking back off realising it’s in the wrong place. A mad reverb flecked piece that fucks with your ears yet still gets you buzzing like a stoned bee.
A bonkers album from a bloke who can pull the punches in the electronica / ambient world with mental sounds like no one else.
Words by Wayne Carey, Reviews Editor for Louder Than War. His author profile is here
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