Roam Recordings is known for representing the West Coast sound, spreading it out for all the world to hear. In that spirit, the label’s latest offering comes from Seattle-based producer Tom Butcher, better known as Codebase, with a remix by longtime heavy hitter Pezzner (Systematic Recordings, Freerange Records). The EP captures a range of styles but keeps with the theme by which it’s named: Acid Nouveau.
The EP slows in pace as it progresses, but never eases up on the intensity. “The Last Time” starts things off with some acid of the moody, electro funk variety — Egyptian Lover would approve — completed by smooth, disillusioned vocal inflections from Codebase himself.
The title track, “Acid Nouveau,” continues this theme but takes it in a dubbier direction with additional heavy play on the pitch wheel of a bendy synth. “Electric Tea Garden” is a heavy, ’80s disco chugger that is perfect for transporting listeners to another time, but through the hindsight of a modern sheen.
Finishing off the release, Pezzner gives “The Last Time” a banging rework with extra bounce in the drums and a slurry of vocal effects, adding a complimentary head trip to the prerequisite ass shaking. This is one of thise records primed to cross-pollinate many sets, offering standalone or transition pieces.
