Solaris
It may come as a shock to the purists, but after two albums of pushing abstruse drum & bass to minimalist and epic extremes, the producer has thrown a heap of new sounds onto his percussive palate. To some,Solarisis going to sound like a chicken in search of a roost: both "Can't Come Down" and "Mine to Give" are pure 1988 old-school tracks that even feature that era's legendary vocalist, Robert Owens. "Terminus" and "Junk" pay loose homage to the nu-school breakz template, while "Halogen" and "Lost Blue Heaven" are beautifully poised, damaged electronic torch songs. There's even some drifting ambiance too. But what's missing in terms of coherence is more than made up for by the visceral power of Photek's production. Intense, stripped back, and wielding more brute force than Leftfield'sSwords, there's a menacing beauty at work here that reinforces Photek's reputation for tingling sonic sculpturing on a grand scale.--Calvin Bush