Eat Static – Back to Earth

Some intriguing stuff from the Eat Static boys on their latest album. Sadly however, it seems one half of the dynamic duo, synth whiz Joie Hinton, has mostly bowed out for the foreseeable future to spend more time with his family. The result is an ecclectic, downbeat mix of tunes further along the lines of remaining member Merv Pepler’s drummatic tastes. Twists and turns are all about with some real gems, especially ‘Valley of the Moon,’ ‘Pearl of Wisdom’ and ‘Lo-Ride Sloucher.’ A few experiments don’t quite work as well, like the cheeky Latin swing of ‘Epoch Calypso’ or the Arabesque ‘Dune Rider.’ In spite of the New Age tendencies though, tracks like bruising groover ‘Up, Periscope’ buggy right along. You can check for yourself and buy single tracks on Beatport.com or buy the album, which features classic Eat Static artwork.