Quick on the heels of his outstanding debut 12”, Shifted’s Carrier deploys a knife-point brand of futuristic D&B pointillism on Perko’s Felt with results strongly tipped to fans of Nebuchadnezzar, T++, Rockwell, Alva Noto

Since emerging with a tape on TTT and resetting his own game with the exceptional ‘Neither Curve Nor Edge’ EP already in 2023, Guy Brewer (Shifted, Covered in Sand, Commix) wiggles even deeper inside his thing as Carrier. Bored with previous textural explorations, Carrier signifies a renewed focus on rhythm that echoes the producer’s original D&B impetus as Commix way back at the turn of this millennium, placing a finely picked palette of precision tooled percussion at the service of obsessively detailed and restless minimalism that thrills in the same way as Nebuchadnezzar’s offset techno rolige, but with the keenest sidespin derived from and extending the UK hardcore continuum. All effortless momentum and nerve twitch alertness, this is the sort of dance music that we’ve been hungry for for too long and simply not hearing from myopic producers who struggle to join dots between eras and progress beyond “aesthetic” echo chambers. ‘Fathom’ sets the parameters with turbulent subaquatic dynamics of springheeled subs and coruscating percussion in fast fwd vortex, while ‘The Cusp’ dries off to a gummier bass residue and flickering pulse, before ‘Trooper; comes closest to Nebu’s suss, but more reserved and in-the-pocket, squirming with organic details, and likewise ‘Markers’ tightens the screws on a lip-bitingly sharp, aerodynamic 160bpm rollcage. Jeez this is strong.