Ekoplekz is the alias of Bristol-based musician and blogger Nick Edwards. An active producer in the underground electronica scene for almost 20 years, his most recent release, Unfidelity, on Planet Mu records, could be the most widely publicised yet.
Planet Mu’s description of the album as a “flashback to the fuggy feeling of a teenage bong intake, with none of the nausea” becomes evident quite early on. The muffled, lo-fi textures of the opening track, ‘Trace Elements’, create a haunting atmosphere that fluctuates between feelings of comfort and detachment. Ekoplekz replicates early acid house with unpitched and sometimes harsh synth lines, helped by his all-analogue setup, whilst the thick layers of delay and reverb give a darker, dub-like texture.
Early dubstep comes out on tracks such as ‘Sleng Zen’, but at no point does the music have the same sense of intended groove. Instead, Ekoplekz allows the nuances of the analogue equipment to become the main feature of the record, and the album winds through with a non-teleological feeling of being in constant suspension. Whilst Edwards largely succeeds in what he sets out to achieve, Unfidelity can be quite a hard listen due its abstract nature. However, it’s a world of sound worth experiencing.
