For his second album, Mark E looks to a relatively recent revolution. ‘Product of Industry’ is just that, using analogue synths to portray mechanical processes and production lines. The music moves with a robotic precision, but allows for the occasional hiccup too – it is analogue and essentially human, after all. We are transported to the claustrophobia of the shop floor in tracks like ‘Image Monitor Learn’, ‘Eganix’ and ‘Leaving Osaka’, but in these moments Mark E also finds a remote form of beauty, using the imagination to pan out to other more ambient thoughts. It is a wonderfully effective approach, for ‘Smoke’ is both gruesome and gorgeous, a kind of beauty and the beast approach that matches pale synth lines to grunted vocals and fretless bass. Despite its title ‘Bog Dance’ builds up to a majestic, acidic peak, while ‘Kultra Kafe’ simmers with tension, a slightly slower four to the floor beat backing slightly discordant synth lines. Mark E has found something really special here, as if continuously mining until he finds what he has been looking for all around – a
5 out of 5
Reviewed By Ben Hogwood
