Phil Gerus: Make Time EP

Lethal: that’s the word that came to mind when I finished mopping the sweat off after listening to Phil Gerus’ new EP on True Romance. The man has an uncanny talent for isolating key elements of tracks and running a good riff way beyond the point of delirium.

“Wearing Her Black Boots Again” is a kind of pastiche of some of the darkest electro and Italo Disco known to man. Only a cheeky synth & reverbed vocal sample bring this back over to the light side – as it is, this is just a gorgeous homage of sorts to the offbeat genre that includes mental electro, experimental Italian waveform magicians and all the sages of cosmic disco in all its forms. The title tracks pulls it back with cherished restraint: “Make Time” is almost a love song, a little masterpiece of lo-fi funk and piecemeal production virtuosity. It’s also addictive as all hell and will require some kind of sedative if you want to get it out of your head. “Detective from Kamakura” sounds almost like Gerus’ Prince tribute, if you passed The Black Album and choice cuts from Vanity 6 through a digital blender and mainlined the mix.