Logic Probe
Self-Titled
(Point Records)
Comprised of DJ Colossus (a dark jungle spinner, apparently) and The Duroc (aliases for their more proper names), Logic Probe is a electronic duo that goes all over map musically on their 8-song debut CD. As one might expect from a group containing a jungle DJ, there are a couple tracks that get pretty wicked with the beats, but there's a lot of other things to be heard as well.
The opening track on the disc starts out with a seriously filtered sample of a child (or perhaps a member of the group) singing what sounds like a little nursery rhyme then a burst of noise. After it fades out, some distorted drum noises that don't sound too unlike something Third Eye Foundation would do kick in along with some really old-school sounding keyboard hits. A huge throbbing bass hit soon comes in before some light guitar work lays down over everything. On the second track, the dark jungle influence is heard loud and clear. After a pulsing bass intro and noise freakout, "Prepark" busts into some seriously noisy breakbeats and tears along for the remainder.
On "5318008," things settle back down quite a bit with a nice little piano melody in the background, but still retain some edge with a creepy crying/laughing sample that's repeated. A slow beat lopes the song along through several different little parts until a modest close. The beginning of the fourth track "Sevirmx2" could easily be mistaken for an older Aphex Twin or U-ziq (and I mean that in a good way) song with its light melody that builds until a slow, sludgy beat kicks in. Eventually, though, the beat doubles it's speed several times and before you know it, the song has morphed into something that could fuel a dancefloor before dropping back off again. Quite possibly the coolest track on the album is the fifth track "Penicilin." It's a bit lighter sounding (at least for the first half of the track) than the rest of the album, but it works well with it's looped spy-soundtrack sounding bass line and funny sample. During the second half of the track, things get fuzzed-out and amplified, but it only grooves harder.
Going a bit more experimental, the sixth track "Kringangel" is kind of a mess of distorted frequencies and white noise that goes on just a bit too long. Just a quick skip away, though, is the hardcore album closer "Po Triad," that sounds like something that might have come off Bomb 20's Field Manual release. Everything is loud on the track and has some sort of distortion applied heavily. The beats groan out of the speakers and make everything a bit fuzzy around the edges. There is one final, unlisted track on the disc that feels like a playful hidden track should. It's a strange little number with a repetitive little bouncing noise, but no real beat at all. The familiar sound (although somewhat tweaked) of a Speak and Spell can be heard weaving throughout it all.
In feel, the disc kind of reminds me of Death In Vegas' debut album, simply because of the huge variety of sounds presented within. It goes from hardcore to sorta ambient, to junked-out trip-hop, as well as through several other categories. At 8 tracks and 44 minutes, I'm not sure if it's an EP or a full-length, but for 7 dollars postage paid, it's worth a listen. To inquire about buying, click on album title or cover scan above.
Rating: 6.25
