Carl Finlow has been one of the most singular voices in electro for over two decades. From the records he makes under his given name to his numerous collaborations and alternative monikers, Finlow's music is suffused with playfulness and imagination. Silicon Scally is the most prolific of Finlow's alias projects, and on Dormant, the third Silicon Scally release for Sheffield's Central Processing Unit, Finlow constructs four pieces of thrillingly futuristic broken-beat electro.
From the opening cut 'V Electro' to Dormant's closing title-track, Finlow's production is incredibly detailed here. These tracks never stand still, their little cells of synth and percussion always evolving. When combined with some stomping drum programming, the final result is an EP which has that rare balance of endless danceability and genuinely innovative production. It's the sound of a master creator letting loose while also managing to keep everything in the pocket, a marvel of moving parts.
Dormant's tone is set from the first booming beats of 'V Electro'. The track's dense mesh of dystopian synth nodules will have you thinking of the nastiest, scuzziest Unit Moebius tune - if the aliens came to take you away, 'V Electro' is what they'd be playing as they beamed you up. Following track 'Bode' tweaks the vibe of 'V Electro' in a couple of key ways, jacking the tempo up to around 140 bpm while also incorporating some funk-flexing organ stabs which give 'Bode' the flavour of a Herbert production blasted into hyperspace.
Dormant's B-side kicks off with 'Proximity Sensor', a cut whose steady drum pulse and chunky bass motif take us back to the very earliest days of rhythmic machine music - Kraftwerk, Depeche Mode and the like. Mind you, the track's slinky synth lines are pure Drexciyan machine-funk, a vibe which is kicked into overdrive on Dormant's eponymous closer. Finlow's most intense production on the record, 'Dormant' is a polyrhythmic whirl which completely sweeps you up, leaving you no choice but to submit to its devilishly danceable impulse.
After a few recent drops which have expanded the sonic world of Central Processing Unit, Silicon Scally's Dormant EP is a reminder that the Sheffield label still does circuit-frying electro better than anyone else out there.
RIYL: Jensen Interceptor, Unit Moebius, Drexciya, Assembler Code, James Shinra