The third
in a trilogy of EPs released by DJ Food stretching back to 2009.
Here we see Food enlisting a few of the people he looks up to for
a bit of assistance, notably 2000AD
comic artist Henry Flinty for the grisly cover art and growling Australian
vocalist JG Thirwell (Coil/Foetus) on the opening Prey, which is a
real juddering slab of dark electronica, propelled by crashing live
percussion.
Likewise, Percussion Map sees DJ Food also steering away from his
previous, more jazz-influenced work - with acid squiggles drilling
into grinding bass funk rhythms and pulsating beats that later transform
into incessant jungle drumming.
Discovery Workshop is more akin to Food's previous works, brighter,
cleaner and riddled with breaks and vocals samples, the latter of
which tend to irritate and distract after a while to be honest.
The eleven and a half-minute Magpie Music (feat. 2econd Class Citizen)
is an amalgam of all the above, although not one epic track, rather
4 or 5 different tracks welded to each other. As messy and incoherent
as it is innovative and imaginative, one struggles to find the link
between tracks and therefore you have to wonder why this EP was not
elongated into an 8 or 9 track album. That's not to say there isn't
some compulsive passages of music here.
The EP closes with In Orbit Every Monday, a little reminiscent of
Amon Tobin - with repetitive chord/sample structures co-joined to
create a syrupy, elongated electronica workout.
Loads of ideas here and some very interesting, fast-paced rhythms
are derived, verging on industrial funk at times, although it could
have done with a few less vocal samples, which has become a very out-dated
mode of fleshing out instrumental electronic music.