Bleep

Across his SYSTIK LP, producer and sound-designer Richard Devine strikes a fine balance between inventive electronic composition and a thrilling sense of immediacy. What we have here is acid done Devine-style recorded in January of 2020 using only a small 7U Intellijel portable modular system, Roland TR-8S drum machine, 2 Eventide H9 effects pedals, and two modified TB-303’s. ‘Entcid’, the epic track with which this LP opens, brings the listener expertly into the world of SYSTIK. Across an eighteen-minute run-time Devine takes in passages of feverish music which swirl together influences from acid techno, braindance and broken-beat electro in brilliantly unique ways. The beats may vary throughout, but a sense of forward-motion propels the track ever onwards - even at its glitchiest there is still plenty of pulse to ‘Entcid’.

Similar sensibilities can be detected across the rest of SYSTIK. ‘Sinscur’ wows with its whirling polyrhythms, ‘TiMetrics’ is full of industrial clang and zippy 303s, and ‘5shim’ closes the release with a hyperspeed blast of IDM. Throughout every moment of this record one gets the sense that Devine is keen to challenge both himself and the listener, yet also seeks to do so in a way which is invigorating and playful. "I haven't made acid music in over 25 years, and I wanted to revisit making this style of music but with the mindset and gear of today. The approach for this release was to perform and multi-track record the set live in one take. I wanted to restrict the setup and go with a very minimal set of tools for this release, and really focus on pushing these tools to the limit." The results are joyous - for all that SYSTIK may delight with its unpredictable beat-programming and buoyant bass tones, this is still some of the most visceral and dancefloor-friendly music of Devine’s long, storied career.

SYSTIK is a stunning album of wild acid innovations from Richard Devine, one of his most dancefloor focussed releases to date.