Rustie: Sunburst EP (Warp)

Hot on the heels of Flying Lotus, Rustie turns out a new EP that defies convention and sidesteps expectations from his previous more dubstep-influenced outings. It’s hard to not compare these weird jams to Flying Lotus if only in spirit. There’s a tinge of Squarepusher’s weird band sound to it as well… mostly in the use of a lot of acoustic drum samples and noodly leads that fall somewhere between synths and guitars. One of the highlights is “Dragonfly” with its crazy sawtooth bassline and bleep-bloop synths, changing between eighths and triplets all the while – this is one of the synthiest of the bunch, but it’s also just so damn fun. “Chew” is a flurry of screwy arpeggios and zaps and off-kilter drumming, while “Hyperthrust” shows off with a synth solo that would make Daft Punk jealous. Overall it’s definitely more spastic than the Bad Science EP from last year, but also more unique. Rustie seems to be transitioning away from plugging into DJ sets and more into plugging into people’s brains directly with his exciting blend of electronics, samples, synths and arrangements.

Watch/listen: Dragonfly

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