N/UM - Ravens [VINYL]

"'Ravens' is the fourth release by electronic live trio N/UM, released by Positive Elevation, the newly launched sublabel of 577 Records, a record company with a nearly two-decade-long history of releasing groundbreaking free improvisation and experimental recordings. The four-track release is a marvel of playful ingenuity, balancing, with unwavering confidence, on the outer limits of the minimal house and techno spectrum while remaining loaded with dance floor appeal and teeming with energetic groove. The thematic material is in rich supply with ethereal vocal loops, uniquely hypnotic guitar work, driving melodic bass lines and percussive hooks and twists that stretch the imagination and shine through with energy and spontaneity that can only really come about in a live setting. Ravens is not a gradually conceived production, pasted together piece by piece, but rather the immediate burst of energy of a band, experienced instrumentalists turning their collective creativity and craft onto the realm of electronic music. There is an almost Perlon-Esque flair to the sound, although 'Ravens' very much carries its distinct fingerprint and steers miles clear of tired clichés and predictable formulae."