James Coton

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• James Coton
• Tadd Mullinix
• Electronic Music

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What year is it again? Judging from the churning drum machine sequences and low-end magma bubbling of James Coton's debut LP, it might be 1992 all over again. Then again, given Coton's unhinged rhythmic sensibility, which seems to take inspiration from the unsynchronized spin of a line of high-tech windmills -- insistent percussion lines and nervous bass arpeggios turn in tandem before reeling off according to their own particular whimsies -- this might be a document sent back from a decade hence. Coton, aka Tadd Mullinix, utilizes his SK-1 alias to troll through the archives of ragga-jungle, but here he reunites classic rave styles with the futurist promise that fell away with a decade of calcification. Chicago industrial, Belgian EBM ("Electronic Body Music"), and acid house come together to form a hybrid that far transcends its historical roots. It's a shock to the system -- a Tazer flash of information overload.