Diarmaid O Meara is going to present the true essence of Gobsmacked with a brand new vinyl record. Some years have been passed from the last label’s EP on wax, but Diarmaid took the right decision in the right time, offering a great package relevant to his scope. As follow up of the vinyl publication, the label has also organized a launch party alongside Dirty Minds Records in Berlin.
On a first impact, the outer sleeve with a brand new artwork contributes to appreciate the final product, the packaging is functional and with a great manifacture: that’s a very good thing, because we’re used to see techno records put inside the most common paper holed sleeves. This big skull into a coloured space helmet recalls to a contamporary style that mixes neo traditional tatto art with cartoon style designs. Now it’s time to focus on the music.
The tracks on the A side reveal a rough and harsh appeal, ‘In Your Head’ breaks through with its alternative drum pattern and ‘Selfish Bass’ reclaims some attention with its noisy bassline, as suggested by the title.
On the B side the songs expose a better fit to the dancefloor. ‘The Improbable Strip’ divulges some elements from the rising up of minimal techno. while ‘Live In The Night’ brings some modernism, it’s the most recent track of the EP since it was published in late 2019 (it was premired by us a few months ago). Finally ‘Ripcord’ closes the release embracing as resume some elements of the whole EP, gathering the A-side strength and the B-side minimalism.
This EP collects some of the best tracks published by Diarmaid O Meara in the last years, fortunately they still sound fresh and competitive to most of the odiern stuff published by Gobsmacked, and in general by all the labels. A track selection like this can make a doubt on people only looking for brand new stuff, just consider this an opportunity of a simplified ‘crate digging’ for vinyl (for who doesn’t know, that’s the art to find great records).
We hope that Gobsmacked will continue to push towards experimentation with its digital only releases, getting across new styles and genres, but at the same time preserving its identity.
Gobsmacked Records – February 25th 2020
Tracklist:
A1. In Your Head
A2. Selfish Bass
B1. The Improbable Strip
B2. Live In The Night
B3. Ripcord
Pre order link: https://gobsmackedrecords.bandcamp.com/album/preorder-diarmaid-o-meara-gobsmacked
More info:
https://soundcloud.com/diarmaidomeara
https://soundcloud.com/gobsmackedrecords
http://gobsmackedrecords.bandcamp.com/
Review by Matteo Pitton