[Present]

To these ears at least, Redshape’s debut album was one of the best techno long players of ’09, so the appearance of Red Pack so soon afterwords is a pleasant surprise. While not intended as a follow-up to The Dance Paradox, this double pack performs an equally important function, neatly encapsulating the disparate dance floor styles that now fall under the masked one’s widening palette. There are of course links to both Paradox; “The Lesson” could be a slightly more malevolent accompaniment to “Dead Space Mix,” the glorious, shimmering synths on the former progressing the sense of wonder on the latter — until “Lesson” then veers gradually towards an eerie denouement. “Brick Brack” has a similarly brooding quality, shaped again by the producer’s propensity for developing narratives and non-linearity, a booming, muscular bass providing the impetus for an otherworldly synth sequence. Is Redshape listening to a lot of old Resse records? Possibly.

“Mucky Bones,” like “Brick Brack” is also based on a rippling bass, but in this instance, there’s a shuffling break beat and a neat vocal snippet involved. The sum total sounds like Redshape’s take on that gray area where Saunderson, UK hardcore and hip-house got caught in a dizzying embrace. The legacy of this period is audible on “Soylent Red” as well; again, a churning, menacing bass line threatens to pulverize everything that comes in its path, even the bleak synth line that insinuates itself into the arrangement. “Grind” retreats to more familiar territories, using repetitive bleeps and underlying atmospheric sensibility that appears so often on Redshape material making itself heard; meanwhile “Drama” sounds like a more stripped back version of “Blood into Dust” as robust drums swing through its soupy, swampy ether. For Redshape fans who found Paradox too conceptual or obtuse, Red Pack is an essential addition to his catalog.