Landrose – Brut

Hyperjungle Recordings

The third album from punk drummer and electronicist David Temprano AKA Landrose is another humdinger. Capturing a year’s worth of live performances in a visceral overload, Brut combines hectic speed drumming with obsessive looped samples and electronic slashes to create an intense journey that gives the sensation of a dancefloor wired up to the mains.

The most intense rolling drum attack opens the album, with the electronic gabba stylings immediately grabbing you by the throat. The pace is frantic and the analogue techno melange is infectious, with the magnetic propulsion punctuated with avalanches of drum battering. Things do slow up a little, particularly on “No No No”, and the martial style here is still hypnotic with the distorted synths adding dirty textures.

You can just imagine people absolutely losing it on the dancefloor to this stuff and as the pieces become stuck in a loop, you can sense the sweat flying. Each piece starts with a different sampled intro and these loops of found sound certainly add diverse flavours. On “Total Chrome” something about the sample briefly releases the pressure, but the industrial element to the sound still keeps things razor sharp.

The gravel in the washing machine of “Dead In Europa” literally shakes things up, while “Angel Op” is much slower and heavier; and with “Lecture”, David tries to beat you into submission while rather losing sight of the rhythm. There is a supernatural synth sound to closer “Fired Up In 24” and you have the impression that although the album is over in twenty-four minutes, he still has more to explore.

For the time being, if you like your drums lightning fast and visceral and your electronics frantic but subversive, Brut is definitely the thing for you.

-Mr Olivetti-