The chameleon of the jungle, Ital Tek, changes colour once again as he turns his hand to carving his own EP of footwork-influenced beats. Ladies and Gentlemen, we give you Gonga.
Title track ‘Gonga’ opens the EP. Those shattered footwork-style drums set the pace, rising and falling from one to the next, and create a buzz of excitement that twists the tension into a near explosive state. ‘Pixel Haze’ combines 8-bit Gameboy-style synth melodies, punching kicks, tidal bass lines and waves of arpeggios to create a warm, rolling sound.
My personal favourite, ‘Cobalt’, is the dark child of the EP. Sneaking its way in whilst keeping a sinister edge to the beat it holds a steady progression without lingering too long on specific instruments, as Footwork can sometimes do. The Industrial sounding drums lead the march, whilst menacingcongobongos hammer through that tribal sound. Those drum hits take no prisoners.
The last track sees µ-Ziq step up to rework Gonga. Stripping it back, he keeps the energy and excitement of the track, but still manages to insinuate that jungle sounding spin inside. A cleverly done remake that pays homage to the original.
Being a person of limited attention, I do become bored quickly by the amount of repetition used in footwork, but Ital Tek diffuses this aspect by keeping that momentum facing firmly forward, whilst pouring in his own unique style. This is a well played out venture into new ground from a producer whose skills seem to have no bounds.
The EP is available to buy from the 5th December 2011 in vinyl and digital formats from all good record stores.
Release Date 05/12/2011 (Planet Mu)
Work in Progress.......no literally, am a work in progress....
