News / / 24.08.16

It's A Fine Line


It’s a Fine Line is the collaborative work of Ivan Smagghe and Tim Paris. Smagghe is probably best known for his sprawling back-to-back sets with Andrew Weatherall, whereas beyond his role as head of Marketing Music, the previous It’s a Fine Line material is Paris’ best known work. This is the pair’s first full-length after a prolific few years of remixing tracks under the moniker following 2010’s self-titled EP.

The record inhabits the murky backwaters, the suburbs of electronic music. The glacial clarity of the embellishments to Titre Original’s grubby bassline and the electro-fied post-punk strut of The Delivery owe as much to Three Imaginary Boys-era Cure as they do Moroder. Guest vocals are used sparingly to great effect, particularly the unsettling sound of Alex Kapranos’ pitched down voice among the fuzz of Redelivered. You can almost hear the smiles on the duo’s faces on this LP which is, at its heart, a fun collection from two master craftsmen of the underground.

It’s a Fine Line will be released via Kill The DJ on 26 August on vinyl, CD and digital. Pre-order here, and until then, stream it exclusively at Crack.

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