Pearson Sound [LP]

David Kennedy, co-founder of influential U.K. dubstep/bass music label Hessle Audio, has been highly prolific as a solo artist since he first began releasing singles under the Ramadanman moniker in 2006. Since phasing that alias out and concentrating on the Pearson Sound project, Kennedy has moved away from the sparse bass explorations of the early dubstep sound, toward a more fractured, experimental style of club music. Bass is still a primary element of his music, but it doesn't drive his tracks the way it previously did. "Russet" is the closest this album comes to sounding like dub, but in a subtle manner, with echoes rippling off the fast 4/4 kick drums and half-time snares. "Glass Eye" is an ice-cold take on Drexciyan electro, and "Rubber Tree" adds clanging noise textures to its 808 electro beats, coming close to Raster-Noton artists such as Emptyset. Other tracks recall the dark, eerie textures of Untold and Randomer, with jittery beats and detached, trippy synth melodies. At 42 minutes, Pearson Sound isn't much longer than some of Kennedy's EPs (such as the self-titled Ramadanman double 12" from 2010), but it makes an impact, exploring a great variety of forward-thinking sounds without meandering or becoming repetitive or predictable. ~ Paul Simpson