iss009 - ep.//skee mask

There should be a saying, that nothing enlightens the spirit like good music. And none more so than a chilled, ambient playback experience. With this new EP, another impressive drop from the Ilian Tape label, ISS009 ushers in the ninth sequel to his emphatic series of EPs. With Skee Mask his stuff is reminiscent of the unequivocal approach achieved by some of the illest vinyl heavyweights. Think prime Venomuz or Digital Mystikz in their element.

'Bandprobe Dub' encapsulates the clearly intermittent yet irreproachably buoyant style that Skee Mask effortlessly exuberates. Wrapped around the dance/breakbeat sequences of 'Studio 626' are the kind of subordinated effects one might hear on a DJ set on a friends's night out in the kind of club that allows trainers on entry and serves cheap and watered-down alcoholic beverages.  

In terms of pushback from this critique, there's little or none to contend with. Why? Because the samples on this EP are phenomenal, its inclusive of some of the most noteworthy atmospheric material to be pushed out digitally this year and aside from the fact that Skee Mask's composition style on production works such as the consummate and headbobbingly good 'Reviver' borrows so much so from the sampling increments of his dubstep peers, one might presumably infer that a large proportion of the ISS009 album invokes moments of clarity that inspire whilst also giving its listener a kick in the derriere.

On the contrary. To come up with the consistency illustrated on some of the reverberated concepts such as the 1:25 drop of the beat on the fractuous 'Bandprobe Dub' or to branch into such uncharted territory as on the quintessential 'UWLSD' takes some doing.