The Village Orchestra

The Dark Is Rising

Glasgow’s Stuffrecords has been quietly releasing some outstanding records over the past couple of years, but with this new 12” from Ruaridh Law, one third of The Marcia Blaine School for Girls, appearing here under his confusing solo moniker The Village Orchestra, they have seriously raised the bar. Opener Dwyer effortlessly fuses melodic electronica, mashed up breakbeats and a relentless 4/4 kick with a classic sample from early 90s hardcore (the bassline from DJs Unite Vol. 1). On paper it shouldn't really work, but the result is perfectly balanced — sufficiently banging for the most demanding floor whilst emotive enough to raise the hairs of the nape. This will be a solid fixture in my record bag, a strong contender for my tune of the year.

Dwyer Bonus Beats strips things back down with a rolling electro bump, again plundering the archives for some classic whistle posse breaks. On the flip however, Tectonic’s 2562 eschews the rave influences in favour of a dubstep-meets-Detroit infusion; his remix of Afanc is pacey but retains a smooth intimacy throughout. Rounding off the package is another TVO original: Tober blends shimmering percussion with some dark atmospheres — the only problem being that, unlike his track from the excellent Highpoint Lowlife compilation LP from earlier this year, Magnetism, That Electricity (of which Tober is reminiscent), it’s not nearly as long as it’s aural spaciousness should allow for (although it should be noted that there's also an 11-minute digital-only version).

Apparently the 12” is going to be followed by a digital-only album from Law, and on this form we can expect yet more good Stuff from this label that's merging all that’s good and great in UK electronic music at the moment.