Ital – Dream On

This is Ital's second release on Mu this year, a follow-up to the understated but intriguing Hive Mind. On Dream On, Ital leads us firmly in the direction of the dancefloor. Opener Despot uses pitch-bent synths, chopped 808 kicks and vocal stabs to create the aura of a classic dance track, half Chi-house and half proto-Detroit techno. Boi is more minimal, with filtered vocal samples riding a beat that borrows from both footwork, juke and house.

The dreamy Eat Shit (Waterfalls Remix) deserves a prettier name, with its tweaked, distorted and delayed synths, echoing shoegaze guitar stabs and downtempo beat. Elsewhere, Ital explores fractured techno, wonky soca and lo-fi electro, confirming him as a producer with a far-reaching, experimental approach to his music. The seven minutes of What A Mess, with staggering, rootless beats, half-heard machinespeak and undulating synths, is absolutely mesmeric, while closer Deep Cut, a live track, gives a flavour of Ital's performance abilities. Strong, diverse work. [Bram E. Gieben]