Little is known about Chicago's TB Arthur except that he makes essential acid and techno. Sometimes solo, sometimes with Magda as Blotter Trax and this time out it is on his own (312) label. Entitled "Footsie EP" , this four tracker also includes a remix from Derek Plaslaiko, who Arthur first met at Record Time, the famous Motor City record store. Opening the EP is Let's Do Footsie, a deep and woozy, mind melting cut with acid lines, gooey synths and icy hi hats all snaking and slithering round each other in slow motion. Things grow ever more wild and uptempo and you end up fully on your toes. The Bunker New York man Plaslaiko then steps up with a slithering electro remix affair of a track from TB's Test Pressing 3 release. On the flip, TB Arthur drops Venice Beach Acid, another brilliantly freeform and jumbled track with rooted drums, random claps and gloopy synths that drip like treacle. It's brilliantly fun and playful. Closing the EP is Body Scrub, a churning, reverb heavy affair with flabby acid lines, synths that burrow deep and an intently weird and freaky feel that really makes it stand out. More

The second release on TB Arthur's (312) label finds the mysterious artist revealing a collaborative project with Magda as Blotter Trax. The pair first encountered each other at the famous Motor City record store Record Time, when Detroit artist BMG introduced his then co-workers Magda and Derek Plaslaiko to Arthur, who was visiting the shop from Chicago. Sometime after that meeting, Magda and Arthur went into the studio and jammed together for a week, the session was recorded live on analog 1/4" tape and then three tracks were selected for release. 1A is six and a half minutes of modulated synth sounds that are psyched out and sci-fi, spooky and truly atmospheric. Full of cerebral cinematism, acid lines and ghoulish textures all add up to a truly standout track. 2A then marries dark wave pops and clicks, unsettling alien lifeforms and menacing, slo motion industrial drums into a physical and imposing groover riddled with paranoid sirens and drones. Last of all, 2B snakes and slithers its way through undulating drums, cosmic freakiness and gloopy synth sounds that are all seductive and subversive in equal measure. This, then, is a truly fascinating pairing. More