Logo
DiS Needs You: Save our site »
  • "We never stopped doing things": DiS Meets The Longcut 15 minutes ago
  • Jenny Wilson - Exorcism about 19 hours ago
  • Mouse on Mars - Dimensional People about 19 hours ago
  • DiScover Diron Animal 1 day ago
  • The Damned - Evil Spirits 4 days ago
  • Slug - HiggledyPiggledy 4 days ago
  • Christina Vantzou - No. 4 5 days ago
  • The Fangasm: The Midnight Organ Fight by Frightened Rabbit 5 days ago
  • Logo_home2
  • Records
  • In Depth
  • In Photos
  • Blog
  • Podcast
  • Search
  • Community
  • Records
  • In Depth
  • Blog
  • Community

Nguzunguzu

Warm Pulse

Label: Hippos in Tanks Release Date: 03/07/2012

85521
BassGit by George Bass July 20th, 2012

Pioneering dance label Hippos In Tanks are the new home of Nguzunguzu, who won a small following with their Timesup EP and two storming mixtapes. Anyone expecting the party to continue here is in for a shock: Ama Maroof and Daniel Pineda were never the most rational duo in bass music, hanging on the edge of the niche scene where dubstep meets psy-trance patches. This release forgoes the highs for experimentation, which might not be good news for the DJ but will mean a lot of software trainspotters now have to say En-Goo-Zoo En-Goo-Zoo.

Warm Pulse is nothing like as smooth or melodic as Timesup - it mutates the duo’s electronica style til it’s madder than Frank Bruno. Though the component sounds are familiar, they’ve been engineered into a blur: ‘Delirium’ plays ice cream sirens over the latest footwork, obtuse but somehow also delicate. The klaxons mean you could potentially drop in on the dance floor but most Joes would run to the toilet, waiting for the processed choirs to stop. The title track is crazier still, going from rattled birdcages to bass like a giant tuning fork. Each time it tolls the whizzing drum track fades out, either through production or respect.

It’s when Warm Pulse piles on the tricks that it starts to feel a little indigestible. Some parts are too screwy, sampling satellite TV horror soundtracks that feel ancient as ten-year-old photocopiers. On ‘Drop Cage’, a melody in the bass will be lost on anyone without adequate woofers, who might find the glockenspiel/sucking drums too jarring to look any further. ‘Smoke Alarm’ is even more deranged, combining radar signals, gunshots and clicking fingers into the world’s funkiest surveillance equipment. This track ebbs away periodically too - for echoing vocals which feel disjointed, like Shirley Bassey serenading NASA.

People waiting for something definitive will find a reward on ‘No Longer’, where the vocal samples are clear, and the mood is sinister, and a piano anchors everything to earth. Without it Warm Pulse could be viewed as a joke title, as not much on this EP is either openly inviting or blessed with regular beats. Nguzunguzu seem to be in an experimental phase but are in it with both feet, turning most of their insane skits into 20 minutes of IDM gold. Although they sometimes sound like they’ve found a Microkong synthesizer and want to smash down walls with it, the duo are still making some of the tightest tunes on the electronica circuit today. For the moment, though, only those with an atypical bone structure would even attempt to dance to them.

  • 7
    George Bass's Score
Log-in to rate this record out of 10
Share on
   
Love DiS? Become a Patron of the site here »


LATEST


  • "We never stopped doing things": DiS Meets The Longcut


  • Jenny Wilson

    Exorcism


  • Mouse on Mars

    Dimensional People


  • DiScover Diron Animal


  • The Damned

    Evil Spirits


  • Slug

    HiggledyPiggledy



Left-arrow

Passion Pit

Gossamer

Mobback
85503
85519

The Gaslight Anthem

Handwritten

Mobforward
Right-arrow


LATEST

    Interview


    "We never stopped doing things": DiS Meets The ...

  • 105537
  • review


    Jenny Wilson - Exorcism

  • 105542

    review


    Mouse on Mars - Dimensional People

  • 105541
  • Interview


    DiScover Diron Animal

  • 105539

    review


    The Damned - Evil Spirits

  • 105536
  • review


    Slug - HiggledyPiggledy

  • 105535

    review


    Christina Vantzou - No. 4

  • 105534
  • Column


    The Fangasm: The Midnight Organ Fight by Fright...

  • 105533
MORE


    feature


    A Month in Records: August 2008

  • 33467
  • review


    Coldplay - Ghost Stories

  • 95631

    review


    Bloc Party - Silent Alarm

  • 7335
  • feature


    Cursive - Six Recorded Highlights

  • 45147

    review


    Sonic Youth - Nurse

  • 6044
  • review


    Kate Nash - Made Of Bricks

  • 26283

    DiScover


    DiScover: Friendly Fires

  • 93726
  • news


    DiS curates the #IndependentMusicMonday Playlist

  • 101788
MORE

Drowned in Sound
  • DROWNED IN SOUND
  • HOME
  • SITE MAP
  • NEWS
  • IN DEPTH
  • IN PHOTOS
  • RECORDS
  • RECOMMENDED RECORDS
  • ALBUMS OF THE YEAR
  • FESTIVAL COVERAGE
  • COMMUNITY
  • MUSIC FORUM
  • SOCIAL BOARD
  • REPORT ERRORS
  • CONTACT US
  • JOIN OUR MAILING LIST
  • FOLLOW DiS
  • GOOGLE+
  • FACEBOOK
  • TWITTER
  • SHUFFLER
  • TUMBLR
  • YOUTUBE
  • RSS FEED
  • RSS EMAIL SUBSCRIBE
  • MISC
  • TERM OF USE
  • PRIVACY
  • ADVERTISING
  • OUR WIKIPEDIA
© 2000-2018 DROWNED IN SOUND