Disquiet

A Highpoint Lowlife EP released earlier this year collected three mixes by two artists of work by Fisk Industries. The one by Brassica (“Blood,” MP3) is thuddy and tautly wired, though the chirping electronics and undanceable dance beats sound at time a bit too much like Warp records of days gone by. Worth focusing on are the pair by Yard, two versions of Fisk’s “Crowley.” A dub version (MP3) achieves exactly that, stretching the original as if atop a frame drum and letting it reverberate for close to eight minutes; it’s a delectably sedate affair. The other Yard edit (MP3) starts off even more quietly, just whisps of rarified noise — so much so that when the club beats do kick in, close to two minutes into the mix, it’s almost a disappointment, the sort of generic rhythms heard emanating from bars in any mid-size city on a Friday night; but listen closely — there’s more at work here than just weekend background music. Yard threads ghostly shadows through the mix, in a manner that undercuts the chunka-chunka vibe and, in effect, brings into the foreground the sort of slight sounds with which the cut opens. More info at highpointlowlife.com.

By Marc Weidenbaum