Gescom
This

Released in 1998 on Skam "This" is the seventh EP of the Gescom project; it comes out at a time when its main minds, namely Autechre, are at their best, beginning the creative evolution that will take their sound from relatively 'regular' to completely abstract, through releases, now legendary, such as "Chiastic Slide" and "LP5", which made complexity, originality, technology, and experimentation their undisputed cornerstones.

This EP obviously feels the impact of this brilliant moment for the English duo, who offers four tracks, as usual, of great quality. The sounds once again steer directly to the typical Gescom pairing, a pairing that to that IDM of which the two are among the main creators combines influences from American electro, and so, not satisfied with the grandeur of the four "Key Nell" that appeared on the "Key Nell" EP and the two "Keynell Ae Mix" that appeared on the "Keynell Remixes" EP, a new, seventh, version of "Key Nell" appears, where once again the term 'remix' is a relative matter, as it is literally a new track, this time focused on synthetic dissonances and nervous electro breaks (but an electro from the year 3000 obviously, no vocoder and 808 here..!) that combine the mechanical-analog warmth of "Tri Repetae"/"Anvil Vapre" with the digital coldness of "Chiastic Slide", generating one of those tracks that well testify to this moment of transition in the evolution of what will then be a well-defined, recognizable sound. 

Nothing is known about this Velocity Kendall (could be one of the many anonymous members of Gescom, as could be Autechre themselves judging by the coordinates, very close to the aforementioned track) that remixes "Pelt", an oriental-flavored track with rhythms once again in the "Tri Repetae" mold, which further confuses us by highlighting once more the peculiar concept of 'remix' that revolves around Gescom, since there is NO original version of this track!

Autechre or not Autechre, anonymity or no anonymity, the doubts suddenly become irrelevant when what is with all probability the masterpiece of the entire Gescom testament, as well as one of the highest peaks of Autechre themselves, who even appear in the title as remixers, an unusual choice for a usually ambiguous project, which sees Autechre themselves in the front line when it comes not to sign: "Viral Rival (rmxd by Ae)". It is a kind of futuristic techno that clearly cites Detroit, with pseudo-droning textures, soft and surreal at the same time, staccato riffs in piano-jazz-solo style, spectacular hip hop beat with cutting-edge glitch emulating the scratching; a recurrence, this of citing the hip hop world, that recurs on "Mag 3.1426 (rmxd by Ae)": fearsome bassline, funk samples, and broken glitch à-la "LP5" behind a solid hip hop beat for a piece with an urban and gritty flavor (I wouldn't be surprised if the hand of Push Button Objects, a Skam man devoted to the fusion of instrumental hip hop and IDM) that beautifully closes this very valid EP. 

Once again Gescom proves to be synonymous with Quality.