This new new release on ai records is a shared affair between Plant 43 and Datasette. The initial vinyl release was limited to 150 copies and comes on a sweet luminous yellow/greeny slab of vinyl which follows on from the killer picture disc ai015.

Listening time.

Plant 43:

"Light pollution" gushes onto your ears like a marzipan river crystallized but then reprocessed into a wave of light which is thin as a slice of hair but detailed as a fly’s eyeball. Crunchy but smooth synth depressions wallow in their own lubricant, whilst a plodding bassline with a slightly burnished finish strides about like a drunken photocopier on stilts. Polished and full of magical fun pockets which will aid you in your gargantuan journey. Stunning stuff.

"Sidelight" knocks on your small front door and scatters itself all over your brand new porcelain doormat, leaving laser slices of 8bit bleep memories all over the show, that messy son of a bitch. Once you’ve cleaned all this bubbling sound up, it starts to speak (shout) at you in a bouncy bass ridden deep electronic spiral expansion which knocks you off your metallic feet. Drop this one and watch the room erupt, it’s a guarantee. "Hollow" takes it 4am and dims the lights, whilst it sets up the equipment. Huge banks of flashing lights and syrupy looking shapes blend and form in the darkened air whilst a large smooth edged cube sits down right next to you, making you feel slightly uncomfortable. Don’t worry though, he is just hear to ask you some questions about the performance, and slap you on the wrist with a shatterproof ruler to keep the beat. Fine stuff again Plant.

Datasette:

Ceramic chinks and power enriched rumblings begin this one, and soon take you high into the stratosphere to look down on the new cities below. Distorted by the clouds and spacecraft below, the sounds are now coming from all angles and fully encircle you causing a barrage of mumbled and distilled audio direct at your main visual receptacles. This one is stacked to the rafters with energon cubes and spinning robotic heads. Epic stuff.

"Can you smell maths?" is a floating perfectly cast shape drifting through uncharted galaxies and nebula, taking notes of all it sees via a tiny tape recorder on its belt. Sometimes getting a tiny bit to near an unstable star, pulses of radiant sound burnt brilliantly on the super smooth surface, causing tissue like radio waves to jettison out at all directions and spreading the electro beat message. Keep an eye out in the night sky for this traveller. "Zigzag" sinks into a deep thick white material and begins to drag its surrounding area with it. Hisses and stitched samples slot in alongside horizon warbles and thick creamy undertones, whilst the intelligent machines scour the area in search of holographic grains to power the dark machine behind this all. Brooding, shape forming goodness.

"Hiddenarea" is basement from the start, with a glassy stretched material hiss and gradually increasing melody and snap happy drums which stick to the walls like an octopus sucker. It’s a secret door into the somewhere you have been before, but the memory has been erased. Majestically secretive and full of life.

Split EP 1 grabs the magic AI pogo stick and bounces off down the road. It's another genre leading piece of music from the AI camp where Plant 43 and Datasette have managed to keep the momentum running with seven tracks ram packed with foundation rumbling basslines, reverse engineering soundwaves and lightbulb melting melodies.

If you can get one of the 150 limited edition coloured vinyl versions, snap it up with both hands as it’s a top piece of artwork and music, but don’t fret if you can’t as there is another black vinyl release coming later this month.

Hugely recommended.

Sam