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Jan 21, 2021In Blue has tangential connections to other gauzy, drugged-out space techno such as JK Flesh or Wandl. There may even be a distant relationship to Wolfgang Voigt's work as Gas. But for all its murkiness, this is genuinely sensual listening. For all its static-swamped helplessness, it's never cold.
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Jan 21, 2021In Blue has tangential connections to other gauzy, drugged-out space techno such as JK Flesh or Wandl. There may even be a distant relationship to Wolfgang Voigt's work as Gas. But for all its murkiness, this is genuinely sensual listening. For all its static-swamped helplessness, it's never cold.
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Jan 12, 2021Dis Fig transcends In Blue's origins in genre exercise into an otherworldly fever dream, an album of tectonic bass and thundering drums that somehow feels intimate and sensual. It's as much her triumph as it is his.
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The WireJan 6, 2021Uniquely for Martin’s music, In Blue isn’t dominated by its low end – it’s the precise absence of warmth, the way Chen’s heavily echoed vocals swim in among the grainy textures and hypnotically simple melodies (so much of this recalls the dankest 1990s hiphop in vibe and directness), that makes the set so compelling, a perfect soundtrack to derailment and decay. [Jan 2021, p.70]
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UncutJan 5, 2021Certainly a claustrophobic listen, and not for the faint-hearted. [Feb 2021, p.25]
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Jan 5, 2021It's a thrill to hear Martin stimulate hip and neck movement again. His juddering drums and cone-toasting bass frequencies are dispensed with more clarity and crispness than ever, while the swarming ambient FX are in full effect, never quite overpowering Dis Fig. Only on the closing "End in Blue" does the voice of Martin's partner dissipate, and once it does, it's already missed, prompting an impulsive rewind.
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Jan 5, 2021Martin and Chen create a world of liminal spaces on In Blue, the invitation to share them is persuasive and rewards are many. The Bug is a mercurial but known entity, his work always impressive, his choice of collaborators telling and Dis Fig shines in this setting. Hers is a voice and a vision you’ll want to hear more from.
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Jan 5, 2021As the title states, the tones and timbres of the album are blue. But it’s not the crushing, overwhelming darkness that you might expect. By the time you reach the final track, the sombre ‘End In Blue’, in which all beats have been stripped away to leave only Chen’s voice echoing against a background of drones, you get the sense that a hard and relentless journey is almost over and that just ahead, at the end of a tunnel that has sometimes felt like it would never end, there’s a glimmer of light.
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