Take a listen to ‘Operation Neptune’, the lead track from Samuel Kerridge’s new EP Deficit Of Wonder released today on James Ruskin’s celebrated techno imprint Blueprint. Kerridge, who also runs the laudably ambitious Contort night in Berlin, is releasing on Blueprint for the first time, building off the success of his debut full-length A Fallen Empire from last year. ‘Operation Neptune’ is vintage Kerridge, loosely resembling techno but drifting off into less restrictive territories. Air raid sirens rise and fall, and glide through a backdrop of a 4/4 pulse and all sorts of spluttering and droning mechanical sounds. Named after the Allied Normandy landings in the Second World War, it’s clear Kerridge has grisly subjects in mind, and much like many of his techno contemporaries, dystopian visions are the order of the day.
The rest of the 12" covers similar ground, and is further evidence that Kerridge is at his best when he abandons dancefloor-friendly rhythmic work and instead conjures up colossal walls of loud and distorted noise. ‘Paint It Black Reprise’ does just this and tunnels deep into a bed of roaring, tension-building destructive noises that wouldn’t be out of place in a Godzilla movie. Such apocalyptic themes are continued in ‘Surrender To The Void’, which, with its sinister synth motif and echoing percussion, recalls the later work of Dominick Fernow under both his Prurient and Vatican Shadow aliases. Kerridge will be unveiling UF, his collaboration with Oake, at next month’s Berlin Atonal festival; ahead of that, read our interview with him from last year here.
