'What’s most immediately apparent about the Need Electric EP is just how strange the four tracks are. The title track seemingly references both Avery’s misty eyed electro clash memories and Paul Woolford in his mid noughties era, as an “Erotic Discourse” flavoured stripped down groove twists itself ever tighter around the detuned analogue core, while icily framed female tones filter out. The whispers of Woolford on board to remix Avery under his Special Request name for a subsequent Phantasy release make this connection all the more intriguing.
Alongside this, “Taste” makes for an even weirder bedfellow, its seven plus minutes of sparse rhythms, percolating bass lines and unsettling vocal embellishments quite aptly described by Alkan himself as the “feeling of nature gone wrong”. Thus far this year it remains one of the strangest tracks conceived with the dance floor in mind, but perhaps that’s its inherent beauty. Avery’s willingness to mess with people’s expectations continues apace on the flip with “One In The Wave” – the first of two Timothy J Fairplay assisted tracks – a short piece that experiments with droning textures and brittle almost there bass tones. The spectre of Lord Sabre hangs over “The Eagle”, an equally unnerving track driven by a gritty, low slung punk funk riff which hints Avery has been taking plenty of notes while working in Weatherall’s Basement Bunker.' - via junodownload.com
