Nick Edwards is a man of many aliases. The Bristolian, who curated the now defunct Gutterbreakz blog, has unleashed a panoply of releases under a variety of names, with Ekoplekz seeming to be the most prominent. Over the past few years, the producer has flirted with experimentation and improvisation, never really focusing on a distinct style or form. Yet a Nick Edwards record is immediately distinguishable as such. His dubbed out electronic goo carries a strange signature that somehow connects the disparate projects he embodies and the diverse labels he works with, such as Editions Mego, Mordant Music and Further Records.
Unfidelity is Edwards' debut for Mike Paradinas' Planet Mu imprint, and as lead-off track "Trace Elements" suggests, is significantly influenced by Paradinas' µ-Ziq alter ego. Once that piece gives way to "Nerva Beacon," however, it's evident that the dub-loving producer hasn't completely given up his abstract ways. Over 11 tracks, Edwards dances back and forth across the extremely wide turf that separates melody from ambiguity, reaching the zenith of his strategy with the epic title track halfway through the album.
While Unfidelity isn't the greatest or most ambitious album in the Edwards canon, it certainly sounds the prettiest, making it a perfect port of entry for interested listeners with sensitive palates.
(Planet Mu)Unfidelity is Edwards' debut for Mike Paradinas' Planet Mu imprint, and as lead-off track "Trace Elements" suggests, is significantly influenced by Paradinas' µ-Ziq alter ego. Once that piece gives way to "Nerva Beacon," however, it's evident that the dub-loving producer hasn't completely given up his abstract ways. Over 11 tracks, Edwards dances back and forth across the extremely wide turf that separates melody from ambiguity, reaching the zenith of his strategy with the epic title track halfway through the album.
While Unfidelity isn't the greatest or most ambitious album in the Edwards canon, it certainly sounds the prettiest, making it a perfect port of entry for interested listeners with sensitive palates.