SHAWN RUDIMAN Vinilo y CD

Review: Deeply concerned with the here and now versus sister label Was/Is' electro archaeology, Is/Was delivers the goods once again with this various artists 12" zeroed in on the Pittsburgh scene. You can feel the Steel City tension reverberating in Naeem's edgy beatdown "Forward Facing", while Hits Only takes things in a slightly cleaner, modernist direction that aligns with some of the UK soundsystem interpretations of electro that have emerged in recent years. Shawn Rudiman takes control for the B side with two jams that tip their cap to the veteran producer's long and accomplished career, but they sound as fresh as anything else on the record too. "Derelict" is a gnarly, bloated banger of a track, and "Asimolar" takes the route towards Cybotron, Kraftwerk and the truly foundational version of electro in all its lysergic glory.