Warp's reputation for bringing truly new sounds to the British dance floor is unparalleled, but Claro--the debut British release from young Finnish mathematician Lassi Nikko--raises eyebrows in a very different, but no less thrilling way. Working with inspirations that can be traced back into the earliest reaches of the Warp back catalogue, Nikko's talent is clearly in his skilful, flamboyant regurgitation of every sequencer trick under the sun: morphing techno mutant "Brothomstate Ipxen", for one, is plainly comprised of reconfigured slivers of everyone from Aphex Twin to LFO to Autechre. Meanwhile, the excellent "In" unleashes a flurry of shrill, see-sawing acid sounds over a slow, elephantine boom of distorted sub-bass, while the moment in "Kava" where the mutant deck scratchdown kicks in over the ethereal, spy-film synth is well-judged enough for any techno trainspotter to forgive Nikko for his light-fingered antics. With Britain's simmering electronic underground already well and truly tapped by a glut of knowledgeable labels such as Warp, Rephlex and Planet Mu, it's going to be the likes of Brothomstates--an international wave of imitator-innovators--that are destined to take avant-garde dance music to the next level. --Louis Pattison
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