Brainchops :: The Braindance Blog

Missqulater
Unfinished Downer EP
[Karakasa Music :: 2010]

Free Download

7/10

Missqulater's Unfinished Downer EP, released today by Karakasa Music, defies its own name.  This generous 5-tracker is a veritable fountain of pastoral pads and angelic voices behind manic DnB beats and old-school squelch that feels more like an upper than anything.

Track 1 "Proper Action" throws you right into the middle of the rave field with a driving acid bassline, persistent 4 on the floor, and atmospheric movie quote samples from Office Space.  "Back 2 Da Rooture" will keep you dancing and introduces the use of a chopped but relatively unaltered female voice which is a bit rare for this artist, but well executed. 

Anyone familiar with Missqulater's back-catalog will recognize in this EP a similar "uplifting" feel that his earlier work has, taking his brand of braindance to an almost spiritual place without sounding cheesy.  The album cover features a mysterious cavern lit by small candles - is this a place of worship?  Are these tracks actually hymns and prayers written for the Gods of Electronic Music?  Brothers and Sisters, let us rise from our DAWs,  turn to TB-303, Pattern 8, and meditate on the resonance of our bassline.  Amen break.

But Unfinished Downer isn't all about reaching a higher plane.  Track 3 "Pest" is a hot tub full of funky 80's flick "bwuh bwuh" basslines, sexy synth and lustful beats with busy 8-bit sounds spilling out over the edge.  Missqulater also uses these funny little pitched-up vocal clips that sound like mischievous characters from a Japanese cartoon that I've come to associate with his style.  "Scant 303" takes us even further into the netherworld and taps into some kind of eerie space mission broadcast, but "A Key Of Day" brings us back to our happy place.  This EP is a nice little slice of electronic dance music that is neither unfinished nor a downer, and I'd recommend it to fans of Orbital or Underworld style tunage.

Karakasa Music
With only a handful of releases under the Karakasa Music umbrella so far, it's clear that they are about quality over quantity and have a passion for unique, inspired IDM.  With 5 solid EPs out from H.P. Sneakstep, Mitch Murder, and now Missqulater, Karakasa is shaping up to be a netlabel to keep permanently on your radar.  They are also extremely accommodating from the listener's perspective, hooking up fellow audiophiles with a buffet of file types and qualities.  You can even download the Unfinished Downer EP 32-bit .wav master files and go skinny dipping in a sea of audio data.

Listen:


1. Proper Action
2. Back 2 Da Rooture
3. Pest
4. Scant 303
5. A Key Of Day

Download Missqulater - Unfinished Downer EP (.ZIP)  :: MP3 VBR | MP3 320kbps | FLAC 16-bit | FLAC 24-bit | WAV 32-bit (masters) | Archive.org Download Page

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