Bass Clef: Reeling Skullways

‘Reeling Skullways’ elevates itself mainly due to its subtlety. There’s no horns blaring, no wob-wob in-yer-face bass ridiculousness and no Day-Glo histrionics. Instead what you get is an album crafted as beautiful machine music with soul – in fact, truckloads of it. Hi-Tek Soul as Derrick May would have it.

If you know of or have acquaintances that trot out the line about computers, diodes, resistors, and analogue synthesis being unable to move the heart or colour the emotions, then lock them up with this for a few days. Actually, if you have associates like that we advise you search elsewhere for love and friendship. Failing that give them a dead arm.

So first there was the holy trinity of techno – Juan Atkins, Derrick May and Kevin Saunderson. In their miraculous and holy footsteps came Carl Craig, Richard D James, Dave Clarke and the like. There’s no doubt many more who should be added to this pantheon but after living and breathing ‘Reeling Skullways’ for some weeks now I’d like to forward Bass Clef for beatification: this is a truly saintly piece of work.

Buy it here.

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