Daniel Miller and Patrick O’Neill are doing a great job for Liberation Technologies. This needs to be said in advance, considering that Liberation Technologies is a curators’ label which hardly ever releases more than one record by the same artist – no matter if they’re aspiring or established. It all started with King Felix (i.e. Laurel Halo), quickly followed by Bandshell and Powell. What’s astounding is that most of the artists give their very best works to the label, as did Luke Blair very recently. The artist usually released most of his stuff under the name of Lukid on Actress’ Werk Disc, with whom he also founded the combo Thriller. His music works mostly through its sound, its finesse is to be found in the details. And on the »Crawlers EP«, they’re more delicate than ever. »Nine«, for example, is a hip hop track that’s to be inhaled slowly in order to enfold the huge variety of sound segments. And still, the four tracks are unfinished ones. The record’s character remains provisional, which doesn’t fit everybody’s likings. Lukid only feeds us with small bits, like with the little sexy ditty »La Cucaracha« that’s caught up in its own loop. Or with »The Brick Burner«, standing in a Northern English IDM-tradition. Or the final track, »Born In Bosnia«, which actually originated in Detroit. All these impressions hint at Lukid’s great potential and raise our expectations – which, for some reason, remain unfulfilled on this record. At the end, there’s certainty, at last: There’s lots of room for improvement!
Crawlers
