[Numbers]

Randomer first surfaced a few years ago on Audio Freaks and DnB behemoth Hospital Records’ leftfield subsidiary, Med School. Running a neat line in weighted dub-centric 170 BPM material, he built a modest reputation within the tight confines of the genre, which was followed up by slower experimentalism on Soul Jazz and Fat! Records. Here on Numbers, though, he references raw Chicago house for three totally uninhibited, mildly deranged bangers. “Real Talk” is a hardware fetishist’s dream. The brisk metallic hats are joined by a booming 808, claps and squelching acid bass; a sampled vocal says that “if you stop dancing, he going to fuck you up. And that’s real talk!” Indeed. In a year that has seen multiple variants on this exact theme (the recent Blawan 12″, Basic Soul Unit, A Made Up Sound etc.), this does not stand up as particularly original. But really, so what? This is pure booty music that contains a heroic measure of glee and heaving narcotic mischief.

“Lime Pie” continues in similar vein, albeit showing a slight modicum of restraint. A whirling shaker pattern and woody hits drop hard into a reverberating 4/4, replete with walking bass and spliced vocal hits. It’s Boddika after a bottle or two of vodka, essentially. “Stalker” is the only track on this pack that shows a purely original voice, but conversely is by far the least convincing. A rather ugly collection of sounds — ranging from a sampled cough, metallic trills and absurdly macho kicks — convene to create a violent cacophony that is very much the wrong side of unpleasant. This release, coming as it does at the end of the year, may find potential listeners utterly weary of the familiar, even hackneyed sound of vintage hardware being stretched to the limits. However, it will be a cold heart indeed that does not crack a smile at the bounty of madness on offer here.