A follow-up to his The Intergalactic Slapstick full-length, the Steel Trap EP has Liquid Stranger (aka Martin StÃÃf) putting the emphasis back on to the dub in dub-step.
It really is in the balance between the two where Liquid Stranger excels. Steel Trap EP, featuring two remixes and three new tracks, cleanly blends plenty of old-school effects and samples with all the heavy-weight woofer dub-step can offer. The bass-centric clarity and originality of his mixes are what’s earning Liquid Stranger the Mad Professor comparisons, and likewise through all the low frequency force, found in serious amplitude in Aftershock, Steel Trap’s reggae roots are what remain front and centre – the mainstay in fact of Deep Down Below and Rough Road. The EP wraps up with an ethno-ambient number Sincerely Yours, which while gorgeous downtempo comes out of nowhere and succeeds in mostly reminding us this is an Interchill release.
by Romina Jone
(originally published in Exclaim)