Butter

by Hudson Mohawke

One of the leading lights in the terribly-named 'Wonky' genre, Glaswegian Hudson Mohawke has been wowing critics and fans alike with his frantic mixture of scattershot drums, pitchshifted samples and melodic synth work for much longer than one debut album would suggest. His first album release for Warp, Butter is, in a way, an amalgamation of all the eps, one-offs and collaborations released under the Mohawke name to date - with a large chunk of fresh new material on top, of course.

Butter kicks off with the distinctly eighties-sounding 'Shower Melody', before Hudson's age rears its head on 'Gluetooth' - a youth spent mashing buttons on console control pads manifesting itself in a shower of 8-bit samples and glitches, pulled together by a low, growling bassline. 'Trykk' displays Mohawke's undeniable melodic bent and virtuoso talents with a drum programmer, before the monstrous 'ZOo00OOM', a staple of his live shows and mixes for so long, is finally unleashed proper: a huge meeting of sinister, distorted bass, heavy-hitting drums and off-kilter melody.

The eighties theme is carried on through 'Rising 5', before relative 'oldie' 'No One Could Ever’’s stunning drum work further propels the album forward. The real highlight, though, is 'FUSE', where everything thrilling about Mohawke's sound comes together in perfect harmony. Addictive melodies, joyous synths and none of the sometimes-grating hyper-chopped sampling found elsewhere, it's no doubt Rhianna wanted to get her hands on this superb track.

With Butter, Hudson Mohawke has managed to both consolidate his sound to date and made a determined move away, using the influence of the eighties to affect his particular talents and create a new form of his sound. As with all experiments of this nature, not everything comes off - some tracks get bogged down in their individual ideas and struggle to progress. There's more than enough here though to justify most, if not all of the hype heaped on young Hudson's shoulders, whilst also suggesting the best is yet to come from one of the most exciting artists around.