Bleep

Aïsha Devi’s Danse Noire label enlists Haf Haf for an EP of broken electronic mutations. Following the Milan-based producer’s 2014 debut for Italian collective Gang of Ducks, This Sick Beat is an expression of being fed up with “neoliberal austerity”. ‘Kuro No Meiro’ drags down its vocal fragments, further pitch-bending experiments are conducted on ‘The Wasabi That You Ate’ that with its distant accordion memories tunes in a declining scenario of a Parisian afternoon along the Seine before the illusion is pierced by foreboding bass drums and inevitable sample distortion. The free-structured ‘Blue Dragon’ makes no secret of its fully alienated world, where glimmering synth disarm the sharp edges of the discontinuous beat. US duo Gatekeeper rally vociferous protest with a digital choir, determined snares and thick bass work.