Machinedrum – Vapor City

The devil is in the details...

Travis Stewart, Tstewart, Neon Black, Syndrone, JETS, Sepalcure, Dream Continuum, Machinedrum. You’ll know him by one (or more) of these, but the veteran – in whichever shape or form – consistently brings it to the electronosphere.

Recently signed to Ninja Tune, the Berlin-based auteur brought out his last full-length as Machinedrum, ‘Room(s)’ (Clash review), back in 2011 on Planet Mu. Now he’s dreamt up a concept album, based around a recurring dream of his about a city – ‘Vapor City’ – with each track a different district that he lets us roam freely around.

‘Gunshotta’ opens the album – a breath-taking call to arms that showcases the jungle-juke sound that Travis has been rooting out for a while now. With vocal samples ranging from the ragga to the melancholic, the earth-quaking bassline that underlines it is impossible to writhe free from. An incredible start, here he cements his title as one of the most versatile and heavy-hitting producers in the game right now.

Yet despite this, like a great deal of Machinedrum’s output, the devil is in the detail. While ‘Gunshotta’ and ‘Eyesdontlie’ come packaged as straight-up bangers, it seems like there should be some middle ground between these and the more atmospheric tracks like ‘Vizion’ that require a couple more plays to hook you in.

There’s no denying the worth of the latter sort, but the electrifying nature of the first cut comes as a bit of a tease, setting you up for a (albeit nicely ambient) fall.

8/10

Words: Felicity Martin

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Stream tracks by Machinedrum via Deezer, below…

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