Bleep

Berlin-via-L.A label Acid Test celebrates their tenth birthday with a compilation bringing together some of the finest experiments with the Roland TB-303. The full range of moods and tones available to be coaxed out of the little silver box are on display here: a sense of melancholy, nostalgia even, on Tin Man’s ‘After Acid’ is immediately contrasted with the hard-edged intensity on VC-118A’s contribution. Higher register melodies on TM404’s ‘Rysa’ meet the single-note build of ‘Ephemoral’ by Wata Igarashi where gradual inclusions of synth drones and percussion lifts into pure euphoria.