[Dark Energy Recordings]

Milton Jackson is the chief nom-de-guerre for Glaswegian Barry Christie, who has been steadily releasing under a variety of names for the past ten years — mainly on a deep house tip, occasionally heading into seedier and more techno oriented territories along the way. His Beautiful Liars EP on the Dark Energy Recordings label he runs with Shur-i-kan fits somewhere in between the two styles, with a slight leaning towards the darker, techno matter. “Beat Talk” is a pure house cut that immediately sets the tone with its reverberating, ever present chord arrangement and drawn out songstress sigh. Quick dry snares crack against loose, swinging, off-beat hats to add a kinetic motion, while the occasional fill breaks down with a disco bass line. There’s nothing too cerebral about the track, just a steady, rolling vibe and playful energy with nicely edited turns.

The title track is considerably more late night, adopting a dub techno persona and exploring the thematic intricacies of the genre. But rather than the aqueous, inveterate plod that can dampen some dub techno, Christie keeps things upbeat and full of momentum with excellent treatments on the chord sounds and further detail in a melodic percussion progression. There’s more than a hint of Ron Trent’s “Making Love” creeping in on “Dalai Lemma,” though it’s hard to tell if this is a touch of influence working at a subconscious level or a nod towards Ron’s track. Whatever the case, it’s moody and raw, made in a classic techno style, sounding like it could just as easily have been released towards the end of the 90’s (and not in a bad way). All together Beautiful Liars is a very solid EP for Christie with all three tracks likely to find themselves enjoying a good airing on dance floors.