11,666,666,666,666,666,666

For his first vinyl full-length following several cassettes and digital releases, Mukqs (Hausu Mountain co-founder Maxwell Allison) surprisingly diverts from his chaotic sample collage work for a set of expansive, free-flowing electro. Like all of his works, this release was improvised and recorded in real time with no overdubs, but instead of a messy burst of pop culture overload, this one is a moonlit journey of deftly woven beats and hypnotic textures, created using a minimal setup consisting of a drum machine and a sampler. It's spacious, but it isn't simple, as the rhythms are constantly evolving. It seems to lead down the same path, and all the tracks flow into each other, but there are significant differences. "Neo-Venezia" is a touch darker and sadder, while "Frog Work" is a bit busier and more playful. Final epic "Hashimoto-Appelbaum Syndrome" starts out downtempo, with a sparkling plastic cityscape somewhat similar to James Ferraro's MIDI abstractions. As clusters of beats pile up, it suddenly shifts into cruising late-night electro-techno during its second half. 11,666,666,666,666,666,666 is a fantastic album charting a new course for Mukqs, and yet another highlight of the stellar Midwich Productions discography. ~ Paul Simpson