Fairhorns – Doki Doki Run

Matt Loveridge of Team Brick and BEAK> is a veteran Invada player, one of the core constituents of the label run by Portishead's Geoff Barrow. On this solo release, his first under the Fairhorns alias, krautrock influences are pushed even further to the fore on opener Ragnarok, where a pulsing new wave bassline underpins shimmering swathes of analogue synth and distant, smudged vocals.

Doki Doki You're Fucking Dead continues that pattern, this time with a slow jam that hides minimal beatwork under layers of drone guitar and washed-out organ notes. Worried Thrum brings in a more chopped, glitch-y electronica influence to the beats, as fuzz-drenched howls of guitar feedback mask a downbeat, proto-industrial vocal, culminating in a speaker-threatening wash of distortion. Puking is a lo-fi soundclash between churning post-punk and stabs of static-infected synth. Despite a more meandering, but no less intriguing second half, this is a strong first outing for Loveridge's latest pseudonym. [Bram E Gieben]