Cyclonix Alien Drug Store EP

Fresh off the back of a contribution to the V/A 12” ‘EXCURSIONS’ # 3 via Phuture Shock Excursions, and a release on Talahachi earlier this year, Nottingham producer Cyclonix returns to the fold with his debut EP for Phuture Shock Musik entitled ‘Alien Drug Store’ EP.

As with his previous offerings - that have found a home on the likes of Red Rack’ems Smugglers Inn, Horn Wax, Ruff Draft, plus his co-owned End of Label Boss imprint – Cyclonix continues to explore the deeper and more leftfield spectrum of underground dance music with a futuristic vision. Made up of two original tracks, ‘Alien Drug Store’ EP draws on a host of electronic influences ranging from deep house to Detroit beatdown; alongside subtle hints of acid house and dub techno, whilst both retain the producers trademark sci-fi aesthetic. The release is completed with a sterling remix of ‘You’d Better Not’ from a pioneering legend of the UK underground - 4Hero’s Marc Mac, under his Nu Era guise.

Heading up the A side is ‘You’d Better Not’, a slow-grooving techno cut bolstered by punchy kicks and a rubbery bassline, where foreboding sci-fi vox samples are interspersed with dubbed out chords and crunchy offbeat snares, as the arrangement shifts from one mood to another. The sub-aquatic vibes of ‘Two Face’ follows, which is set to a hypnotic two chord pattern, 4/4 kicks and a lashing of moody synths that gradually entices you into deeper realms through the aid of rippling hi-hats and rhythmic percussion with a submersed quality. On the flip is Marc Mac’s Nu Era take on the 12”s lead cut ‘You’d Better Not’, who transforms the menacing original into a blast of uplifting broken techno, where the soulful musicality of sustained strings and piano chords complement snippets of the original’s vocal sample that drifts atop adept drum programming, bouncy synth bass and a flurry of glistening synth melodies.