navigation press

O'Neal continues to perfect his foundsound art on Happiness For Our Time on Microcosm, a sequel of sorts to Ploosh (recently featured on Michael Mayer's Immer 2 mix). The bass-heavy title cut lurches through a swamp of rippling crackle and hi-hat ticks like a preprogrammed monster. A massive kick drum anchors the tune while a plethora of voice fragments mass into glossolalia and synth swooshes. Nicholas Sauser's 'Let's All Be Someone Else' mix introduces an irresistible Chicago house feel without diminishing the original's found sound sensibility. Voice snippets (a frog-like croak motif in particular) and noises still careen throughout but the vibe is pure dance floor nirvana, especially when driven by a rolling bass line that's as slippery as an eel swimming in a mercury vat. Hold on for the B-side's neck-snapping "Carespray" whose ten-ton house pulse pounds relentlessly while garbled voices babble incomprehensibly and exhale slithering groans over top. A late-inning breakdown strips the tune, all the better to hear the hiccups and snippets, before building it up again for the coda. Three cuts of top-grade Microcosm and foundsound genius: what more could you ask for?

(Textura / Grooves)