Lee Fisher reviews the eclectic release from electronic artist Hoofus and West Country mystic and noise-collagist IX Tab
Front & Follow
Released: 08.07.16
Front & Follow has long been one of the most interesting small labels in the UK and this new series of collaborations promises more delights to come.
The Blow Volume 1 sees electronic artist Hoofus and West Country mystic and noise-collagist IX Tab share an album – a handful of solo tracks and a quintet of collaborations. Hoofus’ sound is simpler and starker – disintegrating arpeggios, malfunctioning oscillators and decaying loops, largely beat less and recalling everyone from Aphex to Vangelis to Plone. IX Tab uses a broader palette – found sounds, washes of tonal colour, stolen voices. In tandem, especially on The Ploughs & Machines, the marriage of clank and beep to something more abstract and haunting, works like a dream.