DESIGN A WAVE Vinilo y CD

Review: Rush Hour's No 'Label' arm has been home to a few curveballs in its time, but nothing quite like this. A.R.M. 1 is the first of two EPs from synth wave artist Design A Wave, the alias of solo artist Tom Hirst who was responsible for the Live On Your Yard LP on Luke Younger's Alter label back in 2012. The record's combination of angular coldwave guitar and more playful synth textures make for an intriguing mix , with the idiosyncratic pop of "Cerebellum" and warm Balearic sound of "Time For Re-Arranges" both making for some of the most unique music to come out of the Amsterdam record store in some time. Somewhat baffling is the inclusion of "Weird F", which will be recognisable to those who purchased the recent No 'Label' outing from ##### as a beatless version of one of the sides of that essential plate. Whatever the reason, it's still an excellent entry into the series.