Casper Hastings & Another Alias – Currency EP Review

Reviewer – Craig Brogan –

Casper Hastings & Another Alias – Currency EP

Label: OBSCUUR Records

Hey all, its review an awesome EP day! And believe me! This is one hell of an EP to be reviewing!
Please all welcome Casper Hastings & Another Alias.

Let’s just jump straight into this monster of an EP!

We have two outstanding collaborations from the pair and also the privilege of each Artist providing us with an original. As an added bonus we are also introduced to a remix produced by Jamie Curnock.

First up Currency (Original Mix)

Ooooft! Distorted kicks and heavy industrial almost Picotto styled percussion just drives this track from start to finish! This is how it should be done! Clean spacing but dirty samples purposely produced to grind on your ears! Saturation and overdrive being used to a very technical level. Controlled and powerful. Everything about this track is chunky and driving! Perfectly placed fills and short breaks to keep things from slowing down! Like really! The entire time this track plays it is smothered with percussion and drive. The drums, the percussion, the FX! Everything working together as a team and no one is slacking off! TUNE!

Look out for this track in peak time overdrive techno smashing sets!

Next, Preforate (Original Mix)

Kicking things off we have some beautiful drums and amazing effects! The use of reverb on this is superb! Very controlled and tight! The kick drum dominantly introduces itself whilst a steady flow of percussion and FX pleases our imagination! Sound placement really does create the environment for us. A very alien, space type break which in everyway creates the perfect atmosphere! Again think industrial, you can almost see an entire orchestra of industrial instruments on a stage in front of you beautifully coordinated by the producers themselves!

You may find this piece performed as an introduction track to a very driving techno set!

Ok pushing on. Next up, a solo track from Casper Hastings – Withdrawl (Original Mix)

Casper takes us on a little journey here with a solid hitting kick and sub accompanied by a rolling arp lead, as a description I’d say a warped guitar sound that increases in color as we progress through the track. EQ on these sounds is hitting home just perfect and the pre-delay on the verb is just spot on! No problems of over bleed here! Tighty tight! Saturation used to a perfect level and riders are fluent. With pauses, breaks and fills perfectly timed and each new instrument is introduced smoothly.

Drop this track as a driving fill to your already uniquely constructed sets!

Another solo performance here this time from Another Alias – Standard Affair (Original Mix)

Drop the bass! This Ep for me is all about beautifully used distortion. Whether that be specific to saturation or perhaps phattening tools alone, whichever the tools may be, they have done this EP proud! This track has a little swing to it which in turn with those tight snappy hits on each sample adds groove. Ambience really kicks in a little more into the track where you find some laser type zap effects dominating the atmosphere! We can call this progressive now at this stage as things continue forward in a very exciting manner! No one’s dropping from this vibe just yet! More FX pours over the realm of techno! Panning on various samples have been used perfectly well and don’t cross over to create any freq competition due to clever spacing.

Another Alias = Another banging techno track! Slot this into your set at peak time and watch the floor shake!

Ok so we are now checking out the final track on this outstanding EP

Casper Hastings & Another Alias – Currency (Jamie Curnock Remix)

The only remix on this EP and I think it’s fair to assume that it would take a very carefully selected remix to support this release, I think that choice has been made to a suitable level! This remix really packs the punch the original deserves to be supported with. I’m already thinking on a Yoji Biomehanika meets Picotto kind of style here! This is the kind of techno you want to slam your night into dark destruction mode! Kick and bass are solid! Percussion is grindy and sharp! Progression is simply unreal! Transitions on rises are so fluent you land perfectly safe on each floor of sound! Throw in those reduced bitrate styled sounds and saturated typed effects and you’re onto a winner here!

Firstly, for a remix of the original! What a perfect choice of artist and style. Drop this track anywhere in your techno fueled sets! This will go down a treat!

Ok, didn’t I tell you this was one hell of an EP! This release just glows with Techno Purity! A very industrial influenced EP and I don’t know about you guys, but with every track for me, I could see a stage filled with performers each knocking out their instruments to their fullest! BXR comes to mind? What do you think?

Well done to all involved and man! What a great choice of remix too! That’s it from me. I hope you enjoyed this review and as always support these artists and purchase these tracks to simply nail your sets!

Craig Brogan Music 9/10