ultrasound

The title piece is a lot cleaner than the sound which I usually go for (and probably completely 'digital' vs. 'analogue' for that matter). Still it's notable I think for the sheer slickness of the arrangement, the discipline it adheres to without becoming boring, and above all for the triumphant optimism which seems to burst through that high-tech, faceless and even apparently cold sheen somehow.

Cold electro for your heart and soul! 'Miranda' was and is considered special by many partly because it embodies an aesthetic which was new and evolutionary at the time: the realisation of the capability of ineffable beauty in mechanized noise. This is typified by its notorious saw-wave lead within metallic digital synthesis.

With inherent distortion, there's a contradictory ‘organic’ effect. Another paradox: despite this being ‘machine music' par excellence, displaying a precision in its angularity, the interplay of the abrasive high hats on the off-beat against that salacious, cool, bass is nothing short of funky. It’s all executed with a lack of adornment and a restraint which make it far too easy to overlook this record.

However once your mind has awoken to the artifice in the economy of the arrangement, it's a joy to behold. A solid EP of raw, so-called 'monotone' techno, which adheres strictly to the DJ-tool class: none of these tracks will make much sense to those who don't mix, nor will they be as impressive as they could be, if played solo. In the mix though, the stark, sharply-honed, minimalistic arrangements, coupled with a slightly gritty production finish, are capable providing an electrifying highlight in a set.

No wonder Rob Hood appears to be a fan. Tons going on here concept-wise, from what many have assumed was the mind of a younger Gerald Donald. Whoever the producer(s) was/were, I think this should be on your shelf if you collect electro.

One heavier, darker, discordant and harder, proto-Drexciyen cut 'Shatter Prone' sounds good enough reason to grab this, to me. But we also have two bizarre offerings in 'Fairy' and 'Hiccups'. The sneering tone of the vocals on the former have led some to suggest a 'homophobic' motivation.

Who knows? What I do know is that it's funny (not all will agree about that, naturally) funky, well crafted, and actually, quite ambiguous really: there's a very pointed part where the word 'guess..

..' goes behind layers of delay.

'Hiccups' has all the sweet drum programming of 'Fairy' but is just plain silly. It's 'Interlock' which takes the EP out of the 'good' category and takes it into 'remarkable' for me. (Side note: the title's another pun: there's a variation of 'popping' style dancing called 'locking').

There aren't many electro producers who can switch from rough synth+drum exercises, to sweet FM-synth pop. But that's what 'Interlock' is. And it's not quite a throw-away lyric either, although it sounds like one: the song is about 'Lego blocks'!

However it can be taken on more than one level. The lines: 'Boats planes and automobiles, just to name a few; They can all be created, by your mind and you', remind me of the Kraftwerk-like method of using a common, mundane and perhaps childish object (Lego), as a metaphor to make quite a serious point. Here, it's about the power of imagination in the real world.

These are the reasons this EP has continued to be sought after 15 years after its initial release. Do not overlook! I don't mind starting proceedings off (surely three years post this release, comments are long overdue.

) There have been detractors of this late-life James Stinson project, as there have been against many of his records which were released in fairly quick succession before his death. But in my opinion, Mice Or Cyborg can stand against the best of vintage Drexciya, and not pale in comparison. This is mature, sophisticated, highly musically-literate work.

There are only six tracks, but there is not a single unremarkable one amongst them, in my opinion. This is 'grown-up', yet in many ways classic Drexciyan electro. The underpinnings appear to rely on the staple 808s and analog/FM synth sounds, but the loose construction of the songs, the adventurous production (which still nevertheless retains a certain rawness: live hiss at times, for instance, highly corrupted vocal contributions at others) lift Mice Or Cyborg above many attempts at similar models of work by other artists.

One example: Lab Rat 3. A superb, elegaic, lead shimmers over an irresistible but simple deep bass and kick pattern, which is interspersed with repetitions of a sharp, stinging, reversed pad sample. When I played this track once at a 'musical appreciation' evening with friends, the wives of my mates who'd not heard this before, all spontaneously got up and started dancing.

Straight up. As for myself, the first time I heard this, I thought, 'am I really this high?' I reiterate, make no mnistake, this LP is first-rate Stinson material and if for any reason you've been swayed by those who doubt the relative quality of this versus more obviously branded 'Drexicya' music, I believe you're making a mistake.