Mutant Signal: Phase One vinyl

Billed as "music from another timeline" by at least one other respected retailer, we can certainly vibe-match this assessment of the latest release by Minimum Syndicat, 'Mutant Signal Phase One'. The French underground DJ and producer collective, avowedly dedicated to old-school techno, rave, and acid house, have been going since 2008 and have almost entirely lent their collective craft to their own eponymous label, save for the odd outing for Rave Or Die, Pareto Park and Killekill here and there. Now all your base are belong to them: this wild new 12" eschews standard dance music fares for a worthwhile set of extra conceptual indulgences, with 'Return To Vetrem-4' betraying the existence of a top-secret warmonger alien planet, as a sinister march forward through continuous-wave laser-kicks and twinging war whoops is heard. The EP does settle into an ambulate groove, but not after the eardrum-ringing pre-drop activity of 'Marauders', after which the futuro-cosmic flutteriness of 'Silicunt Valley' takes a not so subtle jab at our present-day tech overlords.