Review: Martyn – Ghost People
For all fans of a dubstep persuasion, the first track ‘Love and Machines’ marks an easy entry point with the demonic tones of Spaceape, the eternal preacher of dark dubstep, opening proceedings albeit with swirls of loops and bleeps accompanying his musings. Yet what follows henceforth is anything but conventional, as in true Brainfeeder style, rhythms and textures are constantly turned inside out, meddled with and distorted almost at will, with Martyn’s careful craftsmanship coming to the fore.
Martyn is the perennial journeyman. Dutch roots unsurprisingly lead to a foray into the world of European drum and bass in his youth, before a conversion into the world of dubstep thanks to Kode9’s ‘Sine of the Dub’.
Ticking off techno and jungle on the way to producing his debut album Great Lengths, drum and bass’s loss proved to be dubstep’s gain, as he unleashed a forward-thinking, mature album that included everything from IDM to techno to garage to ambient. Hardly dubstep, then. This success was followed up in 2010 where he was given the honour of releasing the ‘Fabric 50′ DJ Mix, whether it was an added privilege that it marked their 50th in the series I don’t know, but it further served to illuminate Martyn’s array of different electronic tastes.
The natural progression then, as far as Martyn’s diverse selection of influences and leanings are concerned, is cosmic house label Brainfeeder, the hot topic in the current electronic climate. Following an exchange of remixes whereby Brainfeeder boss Flying Lotus remixed Martyn’s ‘Natural Selection’ and Martyn returned the favour with the Steven Ellison’s ‘Roberta Flack’. Now, Martyn joins FlyLo’s roster of adventurous young producers whose hearts may move to the beat of hip hop but whose heads are set for the otherworldly, future-funk of the dancefloor.
So here we come to album number two, Ghost People. For all fans of a dubstep persuasion, track one ‘Love and Machines’ marks an easy entry point with the demonic tones of Spaceape, the eternal preacher of dark dubstep, opening proceedings albeit with swirls of loops and bleeps accompanying his musings. Yet what follows henceforth is anything but conventional, as in true Brainfeeder style, rhythms and textures are constantly turned inside out, meddled with and distorted almost at will, with Martyn’s careful craftsmanship coming to the fore.
While perhaps not as accessible as Great Lengths, his first venture into the experimental world of futurebeats nonetheless comes with flashes of dub techno, the genre with which he is most frequently associated. Tracks such as ‘Masks’, the titular ‘Ghost People’ and ‘Horror Vacui’ will play into the hands of many a grateful DJ set, yet for the most part, Ghost People flits beyond obvious touchstones and influences.
As with most Brainfeeder releases, Ghost People rewards immersion rather than immediacy. It’s by turns soulful, spacious and hypnotic; we witness Martyn reshaping his identity while traversing across the dynamic landscape of the electronic sphere. And as if any confirmation is necessary, the tongue-in-cheek name of the last track, ‘We Are You In The Future’, tells us what we all already know; that Brainfeeder is streets ahead of the pack.
Martyn’s sophomore album ‘Ghost People’ will be released on Brainfeeder on October 10th.
1.Love And Machines (ft. The Spaceape)
2.Viper
3.Masks
4.Distortions
5.Popgun
6.I Saw You At Tule Lake
7.Ghost People
8.Twice As
9.Bauplan
10.Horror Vacui
11.We Are You In The Future
