Shawn O’Sullivan aka 400PPM lets the listener to decide the purpose of his new album. All eleven cuts are far from abstract, dark noisescapes often heard on Avian in recent times but it’s not a pure ‘dance’ album either when predominant modular monotony is topped with multiple layers and references to the decades of electronic music history.
When bearing in mind the floor factor, suitable picks are “Metabolic Grift” with processed voice on a shuffled thud, which would appeal to an apache in astral mode and “8.069” that sounds like a tribute to Nitzer Ebb. For heavier, Pan Sonic-type crusher “Sintered Bauxite” is a choice. Of different breed are slightly cacophonic witch house derivative “Into The Heap” and overdriven semi-punk piece “Fit For Purpose” while the first and the last track (“Bølling Oscillation”, “Mauna Loa Lows”) range from bleepy hardware procession to crisp minimalist rhythms. In “New Expiration”, slow-mode synth wave is interpreted with the help of Rose E. Kross, O’Sullivan’s partner in life and music.
As a gabber and European hardcore enthusiast, O’Sullivan can be rough at times – if only to recall his Vapauteen EP, my first L.I.E.S. purchase, or a mix for Secret Thirteen. The argumentation of “Fit For Purpose” is different and even when it carries some elements from the harder side, it mostly shows O’Sullivan’s passion for variety of mechanical sounds, here resulting in a techno LP with experimental nuances.
Points: 8 of 10
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