Harmonic 313: When Machines Exceed Human Intelligence (CD, Warp, January 2009)

I think that Mark Pritchard was having a good deal of fun making this. Which is good, because I find it a good deal of fun to listen to, too. The first thing that strikes me are the big, throbbing, wobbly bass notes. Not always a good sign for me (I never quite got dubstep), but here there is so much else going on: crunchy and intricate beats, IDMish syncopation, old-skool synths, occasional bits of lo-fi sound collage, floaty almost ambient interludes which don't lose the record's focus, some high quality rapping from Phat Kat & Elzhi on one track, clever use of a good old Speak & Spell on another. None of these elements are revolutionary in themselves, but they are deftly assembled, with a refreshing lightness of touch, and to this ageing Warp fan they add up to a very satisfying (and satisfyingly buzzy) whole.

I bought it from Boomkat. They describe it as Beats / Downtempo / Wonky.

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