Illusive
Strain Converging
Mental Genocide
Autotransformer
Audible Gasp
Spasm Engage
Nonlinear Interfacing
The Wire
Differentiator
Skitzo
Bleeder Current
Polyhymn
Pyrrha
I can't play ball but that's ok

As the opening drone of 'Illusive' slides in and out of focus, an unmistakeable snatch of speech from the movie "Alien" establishes an instant frame of reference for the listener. This is surely one of the most-sampled film cycles ever in the world of pop-industrial Americana, yet here the words fold back upon themselves and lock into step with a high-bandwidth breakbeat like Autechre on steroids. After this promising start, eerie and suprisingly languid, 'Strain Converging' sounds all too predictable, a not-quite-floorfiller; but persevere and this US duo on DTA soon find their feet again.

Sonically, Scrap.edx (not a name that lends itself to being talked about) sit somewhere between Black Lung at his least confrontationally absurd, and the likes of Imminent [Starvation]; they belong to a tradition that owes as much to :wumpscut: as to the Aphex Twin. 'The Wire' is a delicious slab of percussive noise with a simple analog pad threaded through it, and the minimal digital squeals of 'Differentiator' and 'Spasm Engage' are perfect candidates for underground-techno ill-out rooms and fetish-club dungeons. Not all of the fourteen tracks hit the mark; 'Audible Gasp' for example sounds for all the world like the intro from an absolute stormer tacked clumsily onto a couple of mediocre dancefloor loops. Nonetheless there is plenty to keep the listener engaged, and I anticipate giving this disc a fair crack of the whip both at home and in front of a club audience.

ABC