Bleep

Originally opening Planet Mu’s first Bangs & Works compilation in 2010, Chicago footworker DJ Elmoe finally comes full circle with his first album for the label. Battle Zone is exactly as its title implies: a colosseum where frenetic rhythms, chopped ‘n’ screwed vocal samples, and throbbing basslines fight it out for the focus of tracks that are at times squarely centred on the dancefloor, and at others veering into plunderphonic abstraction. Structures elasticate as minimal passages of beats melt into vaporific jazz loops, splattered with sitar, husky vocals, and the magical keys and romantic accordion of ‘Wander Nights’ shaken by flurries of claps.