For an artist who started out making some of the most forward-thinking, irreverent, and flat-out absurd music to come out of the breakcore scene, it's somewhat jarring to hear Luis Garbàn (
Cardopusher) make a record that sounds so faithful to the sounds of late-'80s/early-'90s dance music. The tracks on
Manipulator were created entirely using hardware, as opposed to Garbàn's earlier laptop-based material, and they feature driving rhythms and bubbling acid synth lines indebted to early house, EBM/industrial, and new beat. A few tracks also contain some light, uncomplicated breakbeats flashing back to the early-'90s U.K. rave scene. When vocals are present, they're simple, looped phrases; "Dance to the Acid H" says nothing more than the word "house" repeatedly. Even if the album lacks the sense of humor that made
Cardopusher's early work stand out, and it might get monotonous to those who aren't losing their minds on a dancefloor, it's still a remarkably well done, enjoyable batch of tracks tapping into the types of vintage dance music sounds that never really get old. ~ Paul Simpson