Your mind: a spindle of thread, unraveling as it’s falling.
MAL.E is the alias of Mali Mase and who under the too-cute name “Sweater on Polo” has appeared on Fixed Rhythms twice before.
This is a new alias for a new sound on Something Manufactured: driving, twitchy techno that sounds like the musical accompaniment to stainless steel robotic limbs picking your identity apart.
“Passage 3” is one of the real joints on this EP, a real high-kick stomping chunk of dancefloor soma that even the soulful heads can move to. “One Slip Away” is something to behold — a crash between high tech and low tech soul, organ and exhortations manipulated and pitched all wrong and all right. It’s gnarly, restless and a little unsettling, and frankly it’s totally brilliant shit.
There are people who bask in the cool cynicism of believing that there can be nothing new under the sun. It’s often a cope, a license to live your creative life entirely in the shallow end. On “One Slip Away,” MAL.E does that — it runs right off a cliff and hopes the water’s deep enough for a safe landing.
⚪️ Something Manufactured Tracklisting
MAL.E: Something Manufactured (Fixed Rhythms / 12" Vinyl + Digital)
1. Spectacle of Automation (06:00)
2. Passage 3 (05:13)
3. Routine Cycle (05:02)
4. One Slip Away (06:16)
⚪️ Disclosure Statement
This record was submitted as a promo.
⚪️ Previous Coverage
⚪️ Raw Midwest techno from Minneapolis’ Autokinetic (2023)
⚪️ Tracks for freaks on Alien D’s “Broadway Mid-Tempo Party Music” (2023)
⚪️ CMD makes dreamy dark techno on Social Factory Reset (2022)
⚪️ #TheTeardown Cratan / Decoder on the making of “Boulder” (2022)
⚪️ Erika Glück Makes Wired, Raw Techno on Cosset (2019)
5 Mag Issue 208
Out July 2023
WE STILL CALL IT HOUSE: This was originally published in 5 Mag Issue #208 featuring the story of Chicago house music collective 3 Degrees Global, a tribute to DJ Deeon, a cover mix by and profile of Gratts, Detroit vocalist Diviniti, John Davis of the disco’s scariest orchestra, the great vanishing of pirate sites more. Help keep our vibe alive by becoming a member for $2/month and get every issue in your inbox right away!
