Bleep

The fourth edition of the Ryoko series comes from Eusebeia, conjuring up golden era junglism in a hand-stamped double pack of 10”s. The UK-based artist has released steadily since 2016, including a run of cassettes on Rebellion Electronics and a recent 12” on Dead Man’s Chest’s celebrated Western Lore series, with Ryoko 04 finding him again in excellent form.

A-side ‘Observatory’ is atmospheric, choppy junglism in the style of Alaska/Paradox with heavy nods to original scene purveyors of golden age stuff atmospheric d&b. It’s deep and floaty but its rolling subs give it a bit of menace in the backbone, with some subtly effective switches from light moments into dark making it a killer of a roller.

On the B-side, ‘View’ combines similarly smoked-out melodies and atmospherics with a more deconstructionist take. A considerable portion of the tune is spent happily chugging in second gear, with its half-time beat sounding closer to late-noughties Autonomic than to the retro stylings of the A. It turns out to be a crafty ruse, as Eusebeia switches up the pressure after a short breakdown section and adds some killer processed drum rollage into the mix.

Another fine entry in the illusive Ryoko catalogue.