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10"
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SATOTEM 004EP
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Caustic, dense, and centered around complex but exquisitely executed percussive motifs and driven, rising sequences -- many would argue an alliance between Shifted's heady, monochrome recordings and Lucy's beloved Stroboscopic Artefacts label is long overdue. "The Light Touch" is perhaps one of Shifted's more idiosyncratic pieces, rich with groove. "Seel" showcases the artist's talent for building tension with minimal elements. "Mixen" riffs on its predecessor's approach but strips back the percussive elements further and ups the ante with searing drone signals rising up above the lead sequence driving the track.
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2LP
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HOS 470LP
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Double LP version. Guy Alexander Brewer, aka Shifted, is involved in several projects taking in techno, noise and experimental electronics overlaying a once-hidden past in drum'n'bass. Having shunned his previous work in Commix, more recently Brewer has learned to look back, even making sideways stabs into breakbeat territory with his Covered In Sand alias. The process grows more intricate and subtle on Appropriation Stories for the Hospital Productions imprint helmed by Dominick Fernow (aka Prurient, Vatican Shadow, et al.). On Appropriation Stories, rigorous processing and studio treatments transform classic breaks into deeply hidden components that add new layers of character to his highly-developed techno sound. At first presenting itself as a dense wall-of-sound underpinned by an incessant pulse, Appropriation Stories at length reveals itself to be a much more complex work. In place of the stark minimalism, razor-sharp digital textures and smeared analog surfaces of his previous output, Brewer offers layered tracks with intricate mixes that reveal themselves gradually over time. For long stretches - opener "This Passage", "For Closure", "In Respect of Tactics" - the rhythm steps back from insistent to implied, further exposing the careful arrangements of pure sound. As his origins in purist techno grow ever-more distant, Shifted's sound has progressed from digital clarity to the murky-but-hard middle ground of his sophomore full length on Bed Of Nails, Under A Single Banner (NAIL 007CD/LP, 2013), and through a clear evolution on Brewer's own Avian imprint. Integrating his more searching work as Alexander Lewis and his increasingly introspective work as Shifted while eloquently addressing his past, Appropriation Stories is a comprehensive statement of intent and Brewer's finest, most mature work to-date. Mastered by Matt Colton at Alchemy.
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CD
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HOS 470CD
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Guy Alexander Brewer, aka Shifted, is involved in several projects taking in techno, noise and experimental electronics overlaying a once-hidden past in drum'n'bass. Having shunned his previous work in Commix, more recently Brewer has learned to look back, even making sideways stabs into breakbeat territory with his Covered In Sand alias. The process grows more intricate and subtle on Appropriation Stories for the Hospital Productions imprint helmed by Dominick Fernow (aka Prurient, Vatican Shadow, et al.). On Appropriation Stories, rigorous processing and studio treatments transform classic breaks into deeply hidden components that add new layers of character to his highly-developed techno sound. At first presenting itself as a dense wall-of-sound underpinned by an incessant pulse, Appropriation Stories at length reveals itself to be a much more complex work. In place of the stark minimalism, razor-sharp digital textures and smeared analog surfaces of his previous output, Brewer offers layered tracks with intricate mixes that reveal themselves gradually over time. For long stretches - opener "This Passage", "For Closure", "In Respect of Tactics" - the rhythm steps back from insistent to implied, further exposing the careful arrangements of pure sound. As his origins in purist techno grow ever-more distant, Shifted's sound has progressed from digital clarity to the murky-but-hard middle ground of his sophomore full length on Bed Of Nails, Under A Single Banner (NAIL 007CD/LP, 2013), and through a clear evolution on Brewer's own Avian imprint. Integrating his more searching work as Alexander Lewis and his increasingly introspective work as Shifted while eloquently addressing his past, Appropriation Stories is a comprehensive statement of intent and Brewer's finest, most mature work to-date. Mastered by Matt Colton at Alchemy.
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2LP
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NAIL 007LP
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Gatefold double LP version.
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CD
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NAIL 007CD
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It's been a busy couple of years for the producer behind the Shifted project. On top of an extremely well-received album for the Mote Evolver label, the producer has edged further out into the fringes of electronic music under a number of aliases, taking in noise/ambient variants as Covered In Sand, as well as more distorted, technofied productions under the Alexander Lewis moniker, a sound described by the Blackest Ever Black label as "S-M techno." His new album as Shifted, Under a Single Banner, finds the producer converging these strands into a lucid re-imagining of techno, starting off from the toughened, purist templates honed down by the likes of Sandwell District and Marcel Dettmann, and stretching out into more textured, sometimes noisy, often introverted and melancholy signatures. It's a perfect fit for Bed Of Nails, a label that's given a platform for the more direct dancefloor mutations of Dominick Fernow's own productions as Vatican Shadow, Rainforest Spiritual Enslavement, and Christian Cosmos, as well as familiar Hospital Productions affiliates such as Kris Lapke under the Bronze Age guise. There's a rich and earthy warmth to Under a Single Banner that's perhaps at odds with the puerile fixation on all things noisy at the fringes of techno these days, but for the most part, the tension and momentum keeps the album definitively aimed at the floor without ever resting on its laurels. Mastered and cut by Matt Colton at Alchemy.
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12"
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MOTE 033EP
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2014 repress. Shifted's next release on Mote-Evolver is the Razors EP. The title-track is a 6-minute odyssey. Sounds are layered one on top of another, creating a strictly cyclical structure. Shaking, rattling sounds, a helicopter overhead, syncopated noise and hypnotic beats are established. "Over" is merciless techno that's full of intelligent details. Out of nowhere, jangling blips and bleeps collide with feral bass. "Bloodless" is rendered in twisted beats and synthesized noise and "Trouble" leaves you slightly paranoid.
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