Ormst Kaban EP

Ryan James Ford’s productions are rarely anything other than inspired. Through regular releases on Marcel Dettmann Records, Answer Code Request and his own SHUT imprint, Ford has proved to be an exciting producer, capable of mangling sounds and styles to fit his wide-ranging musical vision.

The Berlin-based Canadian arrives on Happy Skull with a label debut that dramatically emphasizes the point. For example, EP opener “Ormst Kaban”, whose wild, crashing, off-grid breakbeats and twisted, foreboding electronics aggressively spar with glacial chords and icy textures. The 16 bit arpeggio lines of ‘Hobrv Kegdit’ are underpinned by powerful sub-bass tones and industrial drum-breaks that merge to create a densely sprawling mass of dance floor melancholia.

This pattern continues throughout the EP, with “Slown Ridel” and “Nos Ummi” balancing skittish, noise-seeped percussion with the dreamy, glassy-eyed swell of classic ambient and pioneering early ’90s IDM.