REVIEWS

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Skullduggery
You Are Here. [Nowhere]

Trozoc Productions

Posted: Tuesday, September 08, 2009
By: Ilker Yücel
Editor

After several years lurking in the underground, releasing the odd track on a compilation or two, collaborating with Chris Cozort of Iammynewt on the Ohaka release in late 2008, and after much urging from friends and fans, Jayme Bass finally blesses the post-industrial music scene with a debut album chockfull of his signature glitches and acidic atmospheres. You Are Here. [Nowhere] presents 13 tracks of Bass' signature sonic manipulations, combining the frantic pace and mangled structures of IDM with the raw and caustic feel of industrial, with elements of largely danceable electro and EBM thrown in to keep the listener grounded in some familiarity that is otherwise stripped away. Whereas most artists and groups who attempt to infuse more experimental textures into their music tend to get just a tad bloated as far as length and "size" are concerned ("size" being the sheer breadth of layers and audio elements at play in a single track), Bass' approach seems geared more towards appealing to the modern club-goers in search of a song they can latch onto on the dance floor without boring them with excessive length. Each of these tracks is filled to the brim with sound, and yet it's always just enough that the beat and the bass lines remain pervasive, with the vocals - feral and vicious, and in the case of tracks like "Everything" and "In-Security" are also very reminiscent of ohGr - given just enough room to perform above the cloudy musical landscape. Not only that, but Bass does not allow himself any easy outlet, shifting moods from the auditory mindfuck that is "Angel" to the breakbeat-laden political commentary that is "Religion = War" and even to the melodically trippy and synthpop-esque "Truth." Of course, this is not to say that Skullduggery is instantly accessible to everyone across the electro music spectrum; many will undoubtedly be thrown off by the extreme tonalities and find Skullduggery to be a tad too schizophrenic for mass appeal. Still, You Are Here. [Nowhere] is at least an excellent debut release from a young and exciting new artist with the promise of even greater and more off-kilter things to come.