Obscure Formats
Cryptid
M-Tronic/Component Recordings
Now reactivated for more than a decade, the second act of Providence’s Component Records has lasted longer than its initial run at the turn of the millennium. Those old enough to remember Component releases by the likes of Neutronic, Dryft, and Proem will likely be struck by the similarities and differences between them and the label’s current aesthetic, with records by Hex Wolves and Solypsis still sitting at the Component’s original nexus between post-industrial and IDM, but reflecting changes in each of those worlds in the interim. That’s a writ which also applies to the latest from Component Records honcho Rob Galbraith, with that balance being maintained even in a very minimal delivery.
Far more stripped down and less noise-driven than Galbraith’s current work as half of Snowbeasts, Obscure Formats has made some minor adjustments since debuting in 2015 but has held to a dark and minimalist style. With Snowbeasts partner Elizabeth Virosa sometimes in tow, the project’s focused on beat-driven, percussion and bass forward tracks like the eight which make up Cryptid. While a minimalist take on techno and EBM sounds very familiar these days, there’s very little of Perc or Berghain styled TBM as we’ve come to know (and perhaps grow weary of) it here. Instead, the slowly modulating wails and pinging arpeggios which shift in and out of “Thunderbird”, and similar moves made on Cryptid, feel like classic moves and modes pulled from some of the earliest records Galbraith would have had a hand in producing or releasing. Sure, the odd bit of modern polish is applied here and there, but not so much as to obscure the grit and immediacy of such direct fare.
Despite its back to front focus on club tunes, what’s most impressive about Cryptid are the particular subtleties that come out of Galbraith’s minimalism. Rather than using a one size fits all approach, minor programming and mixing tics keep the relationships between seemingly similar elements in flux across the record. The rough, woozy bassline underpinning “Dover Demon” feels like classic techno while there’s a distinctly French electro flavour to the similarly foreboding bass of subsequent track “Basilisk”. These are minor differences to be sure, and aren’t quite enough to make Cryptid feel like a traditional LP in the pop or rock mold rather than a kit of club cuts. But the differences in sub-genre, and maybe more importantly the particular eras of club culture they each connote, should let discerning DJs find just the right tool for the job within that kit, and are a fitting reflection of just how long Galbraith and Component have had a hand in darker club releases.
