- Still crazy after all these years.
- Though the elevator pitch is something like "Peverelist does house," the Pulse series of EPs has featured plenty more than that, including some of the Bristol beat scientist's cleverest cuts. (If we know him well at all, these 12 tracks will likely be collected into an album sometime soon—and what an album that would be.) Pulse Phase boasts the last four tracks of the trilogy, all of which are titled "Pulse" and marked with a Roman numeral (except the urgent, techno-y "Pulse TEN," so as not get confused with foundational grime classic "Pulse X"). And yes, Pev goes house here, but he also goes hard, with some of his most deceptively complex music yet. There's no way to describe this other than sheer expertise.
"Pulse IX" starts things off with those classic Pev kicks and snares, arranged into a thwacking house rhythm. Squeaky synth accents spin in place, forming a high-pitched melody that only builds and builds until all the different elements come together in an eruption of joy. It's unusually upbeat, which is a good look on Pev. "Pulse XI" is closer to dub techno, and features massive white noise patches that mark certain bars with dramatic flair, with the kind of elliptical hi-hats that make Peverelist tracks so spinny. It's a sleight of hand that makes "Pulse XI" sound more unusual than it is, which is a win-win for any DJ looking to play it out.
Pev saves the best for last with "Pulse XII," which would also make a hell of a closing track on the possible album. This one moves like old-school Punch Drunk records, with a snare-kick-hat pattern that sounds like a child going ham on a set of pots and pans (if the child were an extremely skilled, metronomic drummer), and clipped pads that sound like old Perlon trying to emulate Chicago house. But it's really about the fabulously skronky bassline, which hints at Bleep techno with stiff, leaden lashes of low end. Put them all together and you've got a track that works perfectly functionally but never predictably—in other words, it's Peverelist.
Tracklist01. Pulse IX
02. Pulse TEN
03. Pulse XI
04. Pulse XII