NHK'KOYXEN

Mastered by Matt "The Alchemist" Colton and sleeved in Diagonal disco 'jak-it'** Japanese techno tearaway Kouhei Matsunaga aka NHK gets lively on a killer, 5-track, 26 minute debut for Diagonal. Viewing classic dance tropes askance, 'Hallucinogenic Doom Steppy Verbs' follows his trio of 'Dance Classics' volumes for PAN thanks to a keener, almost aggressive thrust/lust for the 'floor, chucking up buckled variants of tech-step, acid, and garage-techno in the process. Making up for lost time since his last releases in 2013, he warms up with a spot of fractured tech-step before going hard with a febrile, 12-minute 2-step techno roller coming off like Grain and Lory D chewed-up by Haswell. Flipside, London-based ne'er-do-well and mutual maniac, XenoglossiX aka XiX vocals the strapping, squawking acid lash of '932' and a severely twysted, Gescom-like body-scrambler, '953', beside the scratchy wreckage of a dank rhythmic noise trip. They're all exactly the kind of mutant bombs Powell tends to lob in his celebrated DJ sets, requiring your attention quicksharp.