Casual Treatment – Tar 27

Topping up the Rotterdam techno label TH Tar Hallow comes Casual Treatment (Melvyn Ortega), a newcomer to the imprint based in Berlin. Essentially a mini-album, this 27th addition to TH Tar's Hallowed annals makes clever use of sentimental track titling with ultra-mechanical, nigh unfeeling sequencing and sound design, to rather ironic effect. For example, 'It Warms My Heart' opens with a totally frozen-over aortic groove, while the closer 'Remember Me' transmits equally cold sounds to distant polar receiver-markers. In all seriousness, though, this is a great release, one which opens up properly in the latter half.