1-speed bike is the techno alter-ego of aidan girt, drummer for the montreal-based bands exhaust and godspeed you black emperor! from its humble beginnings on a first-generation 8-bit akai sampler, 1-speed bike has progressed towards new and improved resolution on this debut full-length, while maintaining a decidedly punk irreverence andpicture ramshackle aesthetic. first heard on the three remixes interspersed throughout the self-titled exhaust record (cst004), 1-speed bike beat manipulations are characterised by live drum phrases that pulse and breathe with organic dynamism, chopped and looped to form the backbone for melodic passages that range from the irreverent to the sublime.


picturealternating between humour and homage, droopy butt begone! opens with a medley of Eighties techno/hip-hop references (shameless filtered synth swells, bpm doubling, scratch samples and a shout-out dedication of sorts), giving way to delicate glockenspiel underpinned by head-bobbing beats on track two. track three is a kinetic remix of fly pan am, who were simultaneously at work on their new mini-album (cst011) in the same studio space up at hotel2tango. this remix ends with resonant tones and drones that introduce the heart of the record; slow loping beats ebb and flow around a beautiful palette of melodic figures and harmonic buzzes and whirrs on track four; a sustained hip-hop groove anchors the playful sample stew of track five and flows seamlessly into the house-inflected picturebeat workouts on track six. it all culminates in the exuberant final piece, which closes with the anarcho-poetic-cum-toliet-humour rant of the man himself. dark atmospherics and shimmering melodies bind these tracks throughout, played against various whimsical touches sure to please those with an appreciation of the inherent disposability and trash-can aesthetics of sample-mad musics.