Sound Synthesis

Schematics

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• 1 Ambient Talk
• 2 Recorded Feelings
• 3 All Night
• 4 Radiant Chords
• 5 VCLexP
• 6 90s Chords
• 7 Sound Synthesis
• 8 Space Wonder
• 9 It gets Better in the end

It's fair to say Malta's Sound Synthesis is associated with spacey, acid-flecked electro. But here, on his first album for the UK-based Gated label, a deep vein of old-school influenced breaks comes to the fore. The infectious acid lines are ever-present - the hands-in-the-air breakdowns, the rolling basslines - but this is a different side to Keith Farrugia's prolific output that brings in influences from ambient to downtempo to bassbin-worrying bangers. Take opener Ambient Talk, which kicks into life with skittish drums, or the woozy vocal-led All Night, which makes sharp use of the Amen break, as does album highlight 90s Chords. Yes there are classic Sound Synthesis melodies throughout these nine tracks, but there's also a darker side, exemplified by the aptly-named 140BPMadness, which showcases Farrugia at his most ferocious.