R U Ok vinyl

RUOK? RUOK? Everyone's been there at one time or another but no one's documented it quite so explicitly as Ambivalent (aka Kevin McHugh) on his first release for Minus. Set against a stripped down groove, you can almost feel the back of your eyeballs start to sweat as the pitched down vocals narrate an all too familiar tale of late night over-indulgence (also included in acappella form). The whip-crack snare struggles to contain a sliding, elastic bassline and a fuzzy synth line infiltrates the proceedings like a wasp that's somehow got trapped inside your head. The vocals grow increasingly demented in the breakdown before the subsequent return really cranks it up a notch. The hi hats double up and the subsonic toms pound the life out of the sound system right through to the end of the track. As with all Minus EPs, there's a cold logic running through this body of work that may not be immediately apparent by just dropping the needle casually on each track. "R U OK" is a collection that demands detailed consideration and will no doubt make a timeless companion for any DJ.