Burial - Truant / Rough Sleeper

Label: Hyperdub – HDB069
Format: Vinyl, 12", 33 ⅓ RPM, EP
Country: UK
Released: Dec 17, 2012
Genre: Electronic
Style: Bass Music, Experimental, Dubstep

There is very little for the dancefloor here. Yet these tracks are fascinating in their defiance of genre convention, and impressively supply moments of breathtaking intimacy juxtaposed with a guttural, all-consuming static. These might not be the best single tracks that Burial has ever created (although Rough Sleeper makes a serious claim for the top five), but as long as he stays his course, experimenting both inside his music and without, he’s unlikely to lose his ardent and well-deserved fanbase. It’s gratifying to know that there are still adventurers out there, and if one can stay on top of his game for almost a decade, mining the past while looking to the future, and still produce beautiful music in the process, it’s hard to feel anything but a sense of pure wonder.

A. Traunt
B. Rough Sleeper