Bleep

Over the past few years Leon Vynehall has wowed us with his deft take on house and techno production. From his early EPs to last year’s Nothing Is Still LP - Vynehall’s first substantial release on Ninja Tune - Vynehall’s music has always been characterised by careful craft and elegant programming. These traits are in evidence once again on I, Cavallo, Vynehall’s latest record for his new label.

Here we have two versions of its title-track, ‘I, Cavallo’ itself and a ‘ClubFront’ mix. On ‘I, Cavallo’ Vynehall pulls off the trick of folding several styles into his core of painterly deep house. A four-to-the-floor snap is at the centre of the track, but atop this we have a Latin-indebted stick rhythm while the low-end which rumbles and blurts beneath evidences a UK Bass/grime influence. Throw in some impressionist saxophone runs and a whole host of dubby atmospherics and you have a versatile DJ tool that recalls what Four Tet was doing around the time of Beautiful Rewind as well as Joy Orbison & Ben Vince’s recent collaborative EP for Hessle Audio. Those looking for a relatively more streamlined rendering should head to the ‘ClubFront’ B-side, a cut which chops out some of the weightless elements from around the track while still keeping in the dubwise trinkets.

Leon Vynehall’s I, Cavallo reminds us that he is one of the most distinctive voices currently working in British house and techno.