News / / 14.12.12

STARKEY

ORBITS (Civil Music)

13/20

Philadelphia based grime and dubstep producer Starkey maintains a cosmic theme throughout his themes and titles that connotes epicness, and on this occasion he doesn’t always deliver. Orbits gets off to an incredibly strong start and ends that way too, but the filling in the middle lacks consistency. There are moments of note throughout, and you can imagine certain elements could find themselves as choice cuts within a mix, but tracks like G V Star (Part 2) generically rub you up the wrong way and don’t demonstrate what Starkey is capable of. There are occasional journeys into soundscape experimentation, namely Synchronize and Magnet, which demonstrate great skill and creativity. The final track Distant Star, meanwhile, is perhaps the most interesting, metamorphosising across tones and genres in a way which could succeed within the context of both private listening and dance floor rutting. There are a lot of strengths to the album, especially for the would-be DJ, and although there are elements to give or take, enough survives for Orbits to be deemed enjoyable.

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Words: Claude Barbé-Brown

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